Group Therapy
by Dale
Summary: Three years into his relationship with Cordelia, life decides to drop a bomb on Charles Gunn complete with a new big bad and a vampire with an identity crisis. Now he's got to deal. Gunn/Cordy, Wes/Fred/, Angel/Lilah
1. In the Case of Charles Gunn

Group Therapy

Author's Note: So I'm back with more story concerning our favorite duo Cordelia and Gunn. For those who don't know, this is a sequel to my previous story Got Yourself A Gunn, which basically took place in an alternative Season 3 where some things didn't happened and some other things did and they got together. This continues from that timeline. There's no major apocalypse this time either but you can still expect a bumpy road ahead for these two. I've had this idea spinning around in my head for a while so I hope I can do it justice. I'm shooting for realism here so by all means if you have feedback let me know. This is purely for my enjoyment and hopefully yours so I don't own a thing. There. Read now.

Chapter One: In the Case of Charles Gunn

Three years.

It had been three years since Gunn and Cordelia made it official and began dating. It had been three years since they allowed themselves to be more than just friends and became lovers. Now three years later, Gunn was driving on his way to Venice Boulevard reflecting on his life thusfar and could only come to one conclusion.

Cordelia Chase, his girlfriend and the current love of his life, was a crazy bitch.

Well, bitch seems like such a strong term. More like… she'd been a bitch as of late. Ever since he had moved in with her last year, Gunn realized that two strongminded people probably shouldn't stay under the same roof. Now, he loved Cordelia and she loved him but things weren't the way they used to be. Rather it be him staying out with the crew and not coming home or Cordelia getting caught up playing Angel support and being gone all day, it seemed like the only time the two of them saw each other now was at work and before they went to bed. They had been arguing about it for a couple of weeks now and to top that off Cordelia had come down with some stomach sickness and had been blowing chunks for the last few days so she was even more bitchy than usual. But atleast she wasn't dying from the visions, so yeah that was a plus.

Earlier That Morning

"What the hell do you mean you gotta hit the streets? I thought you were taking me to my appointment?"

Gunn looked up from tying his shoes to see the beautiful yet scary form of his girlfriend glaring down at him. She was just about dressed with the exception of being shirtless in a bra and a towel around her head. He almost didn't want to look up. He sighed and ventured on.

"I already told you Cordy, I already had plans to help Rondell train some of the new guys today. You knew that I had priorities." Cordelia looked at him increduoulsy and scoffed.

"Priorities? Are you kidding me? I'm your girlfriend Charles, I should be your goddamn number one priority!" Aw shit, here she goes again. Why couldn't they just make up and have a quickie like they used to. Cordelia's eye was twitching which meant she was royally pissed.

"Cordy you are my number one priority. You come first before anything or anybody trust me. But I can't just abandon my people again. They need me." Gunn told her sternly as he stood to his full height causing Cordelia to look up to him. She knew how important his crew was to him. Ever since the whole Beast thing Gunn had gone back to helping out his crew on a part time basis and in turn they helped out Angel when he needed it. Saving the world tends to help you win some respect points and protecting one's child does as well. A lot can go down in three years.

"But I need you today." Cordelia stressed. "It's pretty obvious that the two of us are having some issues and as pissed off as I am, I don't want us to get to the point where all we do is fight until we can't make up anymore…" Gunn cut her off.

"Don't say that shit Cordelia."

"No, I'm going there. Seriously we've been through too much Gunn; I don't want to make things worse. Because I don't want to go back to just being friends and sure as hell don't go back to just being your co-worker. I couldn't do it. But at the same time, you better start realizing that we have some problems. What are we going to do about them?" Gunn stared down at her. She was right, they were having some problem. Hell they hadn't even been having sex like they used to which was just about every 2 to 3 days because of their stressful lives; but for the last few weeks or so Cordelia been super tired and Gunn was as well from all of the work they were doing. That wasn't exactly helping the situation.

"I don't know Cordelia. The last couple of months have been rough and you feeling like crap hasn't helped either. Shit, what we probably need is a night out and a good fuck after the fact." Gunn muttered loudly. Cordelia chuckled at him.

"Ain't that the truth. I sure could use some maintenance. Go on and help Rondell. I'll be alright at the doctor by myself." She relented as she stepped closer to him and allowed him to envelop her in a hug. He bent down to kiss her on the forehead and she just nodded in understanding. She had just gotten finished blowing chunks a few minutes ago.

"You sure?" She was probably still kinda pissed at him but he wanted to make sure before he left because if not he'd never here the end of it or end up staying over at Wes's again. The first time that happened Cordelia had gotten so mad at him about something he couldn't even remember Dennis had to stop her from breaking a couple of vases. Gunn just decided to leave. Of course Angel found out and chewed him out about it. Cordelia eventually calmed him down and told him it was her fault. Wes tried to mediate and Fred was distraught for a couple of days over the possibility of them breaking up. Not to mention that there was a demon that was eating people on the loose that they had to go kill after the fact. That was a fun weekend.

"Yeah, its probably just food poisoning from that Italian we had a couple of days ago. Go. Just don't do anything stupid like last week."

"What do you mean?" Gunn asked feigning dumb remember him and Rondell almost getting killed during a nest raid. Cordelia narrowed her eyes at him as her brow twitched.

"Don't play with me."

Putting his hands up Gunn smirked before reaching down for his duffle back and smiling back at her. Even when she was pissed off at him, he couldn't resist her. At the same time, he needed to get out of here. She'd be okay, right?

"Later Cordelia." He tossed as he headed towards the door. He didn't miss the narrowing of her eyes or the huge sigh from her as he slammed the door to his truck and drove off. Dennis floated a cup of water and some pills next to her. She thanked him silently. It wasn't anything vision related but the ghost knew Gunn had the ability to give her a headache.

Back to the present

"What up G?"

Gunn nodded his head as he clasped hands with Rondell before surveying the new kids on the block. The crew had come a long way since he was playing general. Ever since the whole Beast incident Gunn had slowly worked his way back into their good graces. And as repayment for protecting Connor, Angel got in touch with that Nabbit guy and he pulled some favors. Now the crew didn't have to worry about going hungry due or shelter. Instead of accepting the building offered to them however, the crew chose to stay in the abandoned warehouse and just renovated it a bit to where it was more comfortable. It was more of shelter now than a last resort. Plus it had become an underground organization that could provide for itself . Those who choose to stay stayed and those who wanted to find a place to live usually stayed with Annie until they could get on their feet. Gunn helped out when it came to training and backup but he made sure to let Rondell know that this was his side gig now.

"I'm cool. You ready to get these guys in the mix? I don't want to stay all day. I got into it with Cordy before I left. She had to go to the doctor." Rondell looked at him with a surprised look before chuckling.

"And you still came anyway? Man you got some major cajones. Probably not for long though." Gunn rolled his eyes.

"Whatever man. Let's do this." With that Rondell clasped him on the back and led him back to the training grounds. Gunn was greeted with a whole room full of faces some old and a lot of new ones. It was kind of overwhelming that something he started almost 15 years ago had grown into a well oiled machine. One of the new faces walked up to him.

"You Gunn?" Aw shit, this was familiar. Gio had approached him in a similar fashion and look how that turned out.

"Yeah."

"Is it true you took out a whole nest by yourself before?"

"Yeah, more than once. What's your name bro?" Gunn asked. This boy couldn't have been any older than 19 or 20. He looked like he had seen some things though and he wasn't new to this.

"Tapp. Man, everybody knows about you. You're a legend." Gunn smirked. Damn he was traitor and a sell out a few years ago now he's a legend.

"Nah man, I ain't no legend. This thing here, this crew. What they do is legendary."

"Why did you leave then? Rondell said you left to work with that Angel guy?" Gunn overlooked the young man. He seemed to be genuinely curious and didn't seem to be harboring any animosity. Gunn figure it be best just to tell him the truth.

"I didn't leave. I just did what I felt was right. After my sister died I needed a mission bro. He had it. That's what you guys are here for. When there's no one out there for you, we protect our own. And despite how you feel about em, all demons ain't bad just like all of us ain't thugs or gangsters. We protect whoever needs protecting. That's the mission. Helping the helpless. So Tapp, why are you here?"

"Ain't nowhere else for me to go. My mom got turned and sired my dad. She tried to turn me too. Rondell found me after I had to dust them." At that Gunn looked towards his friend and was met with a confirming nod. The story was so familiar to him. Taking a deep breath Gunn clasped his hands together to signal everybody's attention.

"Aight listen up. There's a lot of stuff out there that won't need nothing but a couple of bullets to put down. Vamps ain't one of them so ya'll gonna need to learn some hand to hand combat before we get to the weapons. Rondell you got something?" At the shake of his head, Gunn acknowledged him before getting everyone to split into groups with him, Rondell, and a few of the veteran fighters respectively. As the youth began to disperse Gunn got Rondell's attention.

"Shit looks awfully familiar don't it?" He said as he put his cell phone into his duffle bag.

"Yeah, looks like the vamps are moving back in. Not to mention there's word some big players are settin up shop down the street in Venice Heights. Might get rough around here in the next couple of months I'm thinking. Me and the boys thinking about seeing what's up down there. You in?" Gunn thought it over. Part of him was ready to jump at the sound of a problem. But he wasn't the reckless man he used to be. He had good thing going with his new outlook on life and a beautiful woman to share it with. Thinking better of it, he probably should just play the sidelines for the time being.

"Nah, I don't think it'll get that serious. But if I'm wrong you know where to find me. Aight, let's get these guys into something." With that he clasped hands with Rondell before the two went to their separate groups and went to sparring and instruction.

Gunn didn't hear the sound of his phone going off in his bag.

A Couple of Hours Later

"Damn!"

The shout from the crowd was unanimous as Omar, who Gunn was sparing, hit the ground with an ominous thud and his axe landed next to him. Gunn walked over and reached out a hand. The younger man grudgingly accepted as he got up.

"You ain't had to do him like that G?" Rondell chuckled as Gunn smirked. Gunn figured that he had to use him as an example of how being cocky can get you on the losing side of things.

"Yeah I did. See, when you get to cocky you get reckless. This allows the enemy to get the upper hand. Remember that. Aight Omar, let's try it again. Now ya'll pay attention to how he fights. It's all about patience and confidence that you have when it comes to handling your business. Check it."

Picking up his axe Gunn motioned for Omar to engage him. Ducking his swipe with ease, he began to get into the groove of things and seconds later the two were going to blows. The boy had learned quickly. Now he had to defend himself.

As the two of them were fighting, the door opened and one of the boys came to whisper something in Rondell's ear. Waving him off, Rondell went to try and get Gunn's attention but he was still engaged. Watching how focused the two of them were he just relented and kept quiet. Gunn would find out soon enough.

"Gunn!"

Hearing the sound of his voice Gunn paused a second giving Omar a chance to land a blow knocking him to the ground. Shit, that had hurt. The boy wanted payback and he got it. Gunn looked up to see the irate form of his girlfriend coming through the door. Apparent she had been crying. Oh shit.

"Gunn, why the hell didn't you answer your phone? I called you like a gazillion times!" Okay what was going on? Cordy had taken the time to drive from across town to come yell at him. What was wrong? Gunn noticed Rondell and the others grinning at the two of them. Omar had a confused look on his face. He didn't know who Cordelia was.

"I put my phone in the bag while I was sparring Cordelia."

"To what do we have the honor Ms. Gunn?" Rondell joked making Gunn roll his eys. Cordelia flashed him an irritated look.

"Not now Rondell." He put his hand up in mock surrender.

"What's wrong Cordy?" Gunn asked as he rubbed the back of his head. Cordelia took a deep deep breath before continuing. She looked like she was contemplating and it was starting to worry him.

"Well… I just came back from the doctor. I don't even know where to begin. So I'm just going to come out and say it."

"Just tell me Cordy." Gunn pleading fearing for the worse. Whatever it was the two of them would face it together. But waiting in the dark about it wasn't making him feel any better.

"You're going to be a daddy." Gunn's entire thought process came to a grinding halt as he processed the words. Rondell's mouth dropped. Everyone else remained silent. Did she really just say she was pregnant? Wasn't she on birth control? What the fuck?

"Come again?"

'Don't fuck with me right now Gunn, you heard me. Just found out I'm about 8 weeks. All of the fatigue, mood swings, throwing up, that's the hormones. I'm pregnant." Cordelia told him levelly as the tears threatened to flow from her eyes. At that the lightheadness Gunn felt was starting to increase. Omar looked between the two before speaking.

"Okay, let me get this straight. The crazy white girl is your wife who came all the way down here by herself to tell you she's having your baby. And you're spending your time sparring with us?" Gunn shot him look that could have made Omar piss himself. The boy was straight to the point and it kind of reminded him of himself. No one people used to get annoyed with his one track attitude.

"We ain't married and I didn't know. I need to sit down." Gunn said as he abruptly passed out onto the floor making Cordelia start crying even harder. Omar threw his hands up confused with the whole thing and went to help pick up Gunn as did some other members of the crew. Rondell went to console Cordelia who didn't even have the energy to try and help Gunn at the moment.

"It'll be aight Ms. Gunn." He told her softly as he went to pull her into a tentative hug. Cordelia latched onto him and vented.

"Damn it Rondell, I come all the way here to tell him this and what does he do? He passes out! I am so done with Gunn right now. I'm not ready to be a mom."

"I don't think Gunn was expecting to be a baby daddy either." She shot him a narrow glance but decided against hitting him. She'd save all of the hitting for Gunn when he came to. Now what was she supposed to do? She and Gunn were not ready for kids. They were having issues already and the two of them had all but decided to bypass marriage. It wasn't privy to their dangerous lifestyle. But apparently their lives were about to change. Looking over to see the rest of the crew carrying Gunn into the adjoining room Cordelia sighed and followed. She was expecting, she and Gunn were having problems, and to top it all off she was bloated. This was just turning into a great day.

"My boy's gonna be a daddy." Rondell said from next to her with a smile. Cordelia gave him a look.

"Shut up." With that Cordelia stepped into the room and went to go help revive her boyfriend. He just chuckled as he followed behind her.

Author's Note: Okay, so there it is. I gather the inspiration for this fic from the obligatory pregnancy scare that most men eventually go through sometime before they're actually ready for a kid. I just went from there. How exactly would these two handle it considering their lives? Makes for a lot drama eh? I think so. I just had such a blast writing these characters I had to continue their story and I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it. Reviews wouldn't hurt either. Hint Hint. Until next time. Hell Yeah!


	2. Accepting

Group Therapy

Author's Note: Just in case someone doesn't know, I own nothing related to Angel. However, I will borrow them without shame for my own amusement. To those who are reading, thanks for checking it out and I hope you stick with it. I'm going to keep on writing until I feel like stopping although feedback would be appreciated. Enjoy.

Chapter 2- Accepting

"Calm down Ms. Gunn. G won't let me see tomorrow if I let something happen to you."

"Calm down? Calm down? I'm fricken pregnant Rondell! Don't you tell me to calm the hell down!" Cordelia yelled at him much to Rondell's dismay as he grimaced. He'd been trying to console his friend's crazy ass girl for about 15 minutes. When the hell was Gunn going to wake up? He looked at Cordelia still sniffling from all of the crying she was doing and could only think of how glad he was he wasn't going through this shit.

"Guess it's safe to say you ain't exactly planning on popping champagne bottles tonight?" He muttered under his breath as Cordelia shot him a look. She knew that Rondell was only trying to cheer her up until Gunn woke up so she could chew him out instead. But all of the wisecracks and little quips, she was so not in the mood for it at the moment. Really, what was she supposed to do? At least the first time around, it was demon related. It wasn't a long term thing. Not so much the case this time. And to top it all off, she and Gunn had been on the rocks for a while. She still loved him with everything thing she had but they were spending more time getting into real arguments instead of playful ones and she felt like they were losing their spark and it was worrying her. Three years in you would expect that right? It wasn't like she'd ever dated anybody that long before.

Gunn stirred from next to her causing Rondell to slightly sigh in relief. The man had finally woken up. Opening his eyes slowly, he focused them on Cordelia and Rondell.

"Bout time you came around bro, me and Ms. Gunn almost had a thing going on." Rondell joked but he sounded so genuine Gunn had to toss Cordelia a look. She was glaring daggers at him yet looked relieved at the same time. Weird.

"What happened?"

"You fainted. Ms. Gunn dropped the world on you about 20 minutes ago." Rubbing his head Gunn tried to remember. Okay he was sparring. Cordelia showed up crying, and she was going on about…

"Oh shit." Cordelia snorted loudly.

"Oh shit is right. You are the father of this child, no need for a paternity test or a trip to the Maury Povich show." Rondell snickered but wiped it back off his face at their looks.

"I think I'm going to go check on the crew. We might need this room later, don't get too much blood on the floor." Before Cordelia could lash out at him one more time, Rondell quickly excused himself and exited. She turned back to meet Gunn's overwhelmed gaze.

"How?" Cordelia looked at him aghast. How? Was that all he had to say? What kind of question was that?

"Typical man. Always reduced to one syllable words when it comes to something that's actually serious. The medicine I was taking for the headaches from the visions ; well for some reason it interfered with my birth control and made it less effective somehow. He's not entirely sure but that's the most likely way. But the question you should be asking me is "now what?"

Gunn had to admit that would have been the more logical question. But come on, having your girlfriend drive all the way across town to tell you you're going to be a daddy will make any dude have a brain fart. Not to mention he was scared shitless. Not that he ever planned on no longer being a part of Cordelia's life but now they were connected in the deepest way possible according to him. They had created a life. It wasn't too long ago that he was willing to throw away his.

"Gunn, we're not the "baby-having" types. Stopping demon sacrifices, evil lawyers, big gooey slimy stuff, that's our thing. Playing Bill and June Cleaver, not so much. And don't give me that excuse about Angel and Connor. Connor's different. He's a superbrat in training."

"Yeah, training diapers."

"Shut up. Point is, I'm not getting rid of it. So you need to decide what you're going to do." Gunn looked at her. What the fuck did she mean decide what "he" was going to do? Last time he checked it takes two to tango.

"Hold up now, I ain't in this alone. Ain't we in this together?"

"Depends if there is still an us? I mean, they say kids change things. You and me are already having issues. Ever since you moved in and started doing your side gig, you're gone half the time and there's the fact that our job pretty much gives us a 300% increased risked of an early expiration date. You think I want to stay at the office and babysit and answer phones all day? Hell no. I don't do "Desperate Housewife". I'm Cordelia Chase damn it."

"Cordy, what does that have to do with me being a good dad? Yeah shit's been rough. But really though, we've put our lives on the line for each other for the past 6 years almost. You really think I'm a let couple of issues mess up this thing we got going. Within the first 6 months we dated, we had to save the world from an apocalypse and you were in rehabilitation therapy from a surgery where they had to crack open your melon. Seriously, if we can handle that shit, not to mention working for a vampire who can't get any happys without the possibility of turning into his own Mr. Hyde on a daily basis, we should be able to handle a kid of our own no problem." Gunn was right, they had been through entirely too damn much and they were far from a normal couple but she was just scared.

"In high school I assumed I'd be rich with my own t.v show right now. Like "Friends" caliber t.v. After realizing that I truly suck as an actress, I figured I was going to either grow old with a lot of cats or die helping the helpless. I hate it Gunn. It's like I don't have control over my own life anymore. This sucks." Gunn tentatively stepped closer to her and when he noticed she was still shaking he pulled her into an embrace.

"Look, you're clearly not the same chick who thought my name was slang for street cred all those years ago. You were pretty ditzy. And you're not that same girl who me and Wes spent a good bit out our time annoying the hell out of every night either. Sure you still snore like a 40 year old man and own atleast 120 pairs of shoes that take up the whole closet, and have more clothes than I thought was humanly possible but you never once worried about life going the way you wanted it to. You just lived it the way you wanted to. That's what I loved about you." Cordelia looked up at him.

"Loved?"

"Love." He corrected with a grin. She smiled back slightly at that. Oh God when did she turn into such a damn sap. Where was her bite? She was the biggest bitch in Sunnydale. Thinking about it, she realized hadn't been like that in a long long time. She and Gunn were older, definiteiy wiser, and not dead. She was 24 almost 25 now. Almost to 30. She was no longer in Sunnydale either.

"Look at me, getting inspirational advice from a knock off Montel Williams." Cordelia shot back as she sniffled. Apparently the bitch part still applied.

Gunn smirked at her as she wiped her tears. This is what he wanted to see. She seemed to be coming around and accepting the fact that they were in this together and despite their own personal problems, weren't going anywhere. Now she had to deal with the hard part. Telling Gunn had been a necessary evil. Telling Angel…well she didn't even want to think about it. Gunn's voice broke her thoughts.

"We really doing this?" Sighing deeply she nodded and put her hand to her abdomen. This was for real. No overnight terms or any other demon shit. This was a genuine, full fledge human pregnancy here. She had to worry about her on going morning sickness, cramps, sore nipples, not to mention her inevitable weight gain. Her figure was going out of the window and she blamed Gunn for the whole thing.

"Yes of course. I dread the moment I have to step into a maternity store. I've never worn anything stretchy in my life." She groaned. Gunn chuckled. His girlfriend was so vain. He knew this and the sad thing was he knew it probably wouldn't ever change.

"My how the mighty have fallen." He teased.

"Stop it, I'm serious. I'll have to get a whole new wardrobe. What if I can't lose the weight after I give birth? I'll look like Roseanne, complete with the button up shirt and the horrendous laugh sitting around with nothing to do but gossip about my nonexistent social life with Fred or heaven forbid, Angel."

"Don't you think that's a little over the top baby? I mean I'm sure you'll get your figure back. You can't even tell you got a bun in the oven yet."

"You're not making me feel any better."

"Wasn't trying to. Ready to tell Angel?"

"Do I have to?"

"Would you rather tell him or have him figure it out with his vamp senses tingling?" At that Cordelia abruptly shut up and helped Gunn up. Opening the door Gunn and Cordelia were met with the smirks and grins of the entire crew as they stopped sparring. Rondell looked like he was surprised they were in one piece.

"Sorry about all of this everybody. Ain't no sense in hiding the news. I'm a be a daddy." Gunn told them all with a reserved grin. Omar, whom he was sparring with earlier got his attention.

"Don't think that means you getting out of a rematch?" He yelled outloud.

"You better ask my ol lady about that." At that Cordelia slapped Gunn on the back of the head. She wasn't old. As the two of them turned to leave Rondell slapped him on the back.

"Congrats." With a thankful nod Gunn lead Cordelia out and once they got into their respective vehicles headed for the Hyperion.

Hyperion Hotel -5:47pm

Angel looked at the brunette standing in front of him with a blank look on his face trying to process what she had just said.

"So…that means…" He started before she started to jump up.

"Uh huh, I got my license. You are now looking at Dr. Winifred Burkle. And on top of that, I already have a job lined up back at UCLA. I can't wait to tell Wesley! Ah! I'm so excited." Hugging him tightly Angel let go one of his reserved smiles as Fred latched on to him. Connor was on the floor playing with his monster truck and paid them no mind. Making car explosions sounds, his attention was soon grabbed the moment Cordelia and Gunn walked through the door.

"Aunt Cordy!" He squealed as he ran his way towards the front door. Gunn looked down at the sight of the two of them with a grin on his face.

"Eh no love for me squirt?" He teased as he rubbed the top of his head and ruffled his hair. Connor gave a look of apology before laughing.

"Sorry. Hey Gunn."

"Just messing with ya kid. And why is Fred latched on to you like that Angel? Wes isn't gonna like this." Gunn remarked as he and Cordelia turned the corner. Fred answered quickly before Angel could get out two words.

"I got my licensure. Now I'm able to teach physics in academia."

"I thought you had earned your Ph.D last year Fred?" Cordelia told her as she sat down on the couch next to Angel who was now wrestling with Connor.

"I did. I had to do a year of post-grad work in order to apply for licensure. At the university all professors must be licensed. I've already gotten several of my Quantum Particle Theory papers published in one of the most prestigious physics journals out there. Once you been sucked into a portal and transported to a dimension where all humans are considered cows, it kinda gives you a leg up in terms of perspective." Cordelia rolled her eyes as she remembered how she was treated in Pylea. She had ruined a perfectly good outfit and smelled like horse poo for what seemed like days until she was taken to that castle. And she didn't even want to dwell on the rest at the moment.

"Being as I have no idea how I managed to keep with how fast you said that, how about we just skip to the part where I say congratulations and give you a hug?" Gunn chuckled as the two of them did just that.

"Well, what brings you two around? I thought you both decided to take the day off for your doctor visit?" Angel asked as he held Connor in the air and messed with him. Gunn noticed Cordelia's face just about drop at Angel's gaze and Fred seemed to catch it too. She looked to Gunn with a questioning look and Gunn just looked on and gave a weary smile. Fred narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, about that…that's kinda why we're here. I found out some stuff." She started. Angel focused his attention on her, worried that something might have been wrong with her.

"What is it? You think it's something mystical?"

"What? No! It's not mystical, it's authentic human stuff. I'm just not sure how to tell you." Gunn put a comforting hand on her back. Angel was getting really worried now as was Fred. Cordelia wasn't known for beating around the bush, so this must have been serious business.

Angel had figured from the moment her heart started beating 3 times as fast that something was wrong. He just hoped it wasn't anything that was dangerous to her. Setting Connor over next to him he gave Cordelia a soft look.

"You're starting to worry me Cordelia, whatever it is you know we'll be there for you. Just tell us." Cordelia looked over to him and then at Connor before looking down to her own abdomen. She just couldn't find the words. All of this was still fresh and surreal. Fred looked on for a second before realization hit her. She let out a squeak. Cordelia looked to Gunn for support and he nodded. He was going to have to tell him.

"She's got a bun in the oven Angel." Fred let her squeal go after that. Angel remained silent. Was this for real? Her and Gunn…parents? Huh? Cordelia must have taken his sadness as disappointment because soon she was crying again. Fred jumped up to hug her and comfort her and Gunn stood up to get Angel's attention.

"Say something damn it, you see she's upset about it." Angel remaind stoic.

"You two are going to be parents. I'm just in shock about the whole thing. You sure it isn't demonic? Last time it was demonic."

"Eh!" Gunn yelled out at him. He was referring to his progeny. And Gunn knew he wasn't no demon. Cordelia shot Angel a look.

"Last time, it was a smooth talking guy that happened to be a demon Angel. This time around you can thank Gunn and his super sperm." Cordelia told him bluntly not really feeling like going into deal about it right now. It had been hard enough just telling him. Angel grimaced at the visual he had gotten from her statement. Gunn noticeably did as well.

"Well I'm happy for ya'll. You two thinking about getting married now?" Fred asked with her eyes filled with what Gunn called "giddy". She was still very mousy. Cordelia snorted at her with what almost sounded like disgust. Damn could she have sounded any more enthusiastic?

"Someday maybe." Gunn said weakly. He knew that Cordy was scared that they wouldn't make it that far considering the last few months. They still had some issues to work out in their relationship. This was sure to complicate things. Fred sighed a bit.

"Aww."

"Oh cry me a river Fred. I'm not throwing him away yet." Cordelia bit at her as she wiped her eyes and headed for the bathroom. She had to go pee. This was becoming a recurring theme the last few weeks. At least now she knew why. Gunn received stares from both Angel and Fred.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I reacted like I did. I'm happy for you two, really." Angel apologized.

"Well, if it makes you feel better I fainted when Cordy dropped the bomb on me earlier today. In front of the whole crew. Rondell gave me hell for it. But I gotta say, it's not all bad know that I'm going to be a daddy. Actually feels kinda nice. But I'm worried about the mama. We've been having some problems."

"What kind of problems?" Angel and Fred said in unison wanting to know how serious they were. Gunn paused and stared at them momentarily before continuing.

"Cordelia thinks that we're getting bored with each other and eventually we're going to break up." Angel almost laughed until he noticed he was dead serious.

"Come on Gunn, everyone knows you worship the ground she walks on just like she expects you to."

"That's just it. I know where I stand with Cordelia. But as of late she's been distant from me. You think it's cause of this baby business?"

"Most likely. The hormonal changes she's having are going to make her more stressed than usual." Fred interjected catching him off guard. She continued.

"When's the last time you two have gotten dressed up and gone out on the town Charles? Cordelia used to gush to me about you two's dates all of the time when you first started dating. Maybe she just wants to feel like she did then. We love it when you do that." Gunn remained silent. Maybe Angel and Fred were right. This whole pregnancy thing had kind of thrown him for a loop but instead of this kid causing a rift between them maybe it was meant to bring them closer. But first he'd have to actually talk to her for more than 10 minutes without arguing to actually find out what was really bothering her. Because frankly after 10 minutes Cordelia was in full fledge bitch mode and a meaningful conversation was futile. The thud from the lobby bathroom caught the group's attention. All but Connor who had gotten bored and fallen asleep on the couch. Angel got up and did Gunn who quickly ran to see if Cordelia was alright.

"Cordy, you okay in there?" Gunn asked only to receive no answer for few seconds. Suddenly she opened the door holding her head. She had had a vision. Gunn couldn't help but be glad that Wes had come across that ring. Her visions were nowhere as excruciating at they had once been.

"Ritual sacrifice. Looks like… the mall over in Rio. Group of girls with some guys. One of them has a tattoo on his arm that looks like a bunch of funky symbols like a peace sign with a bunch of dots in it. They're at the food court. Hell of a dresser too. Poor girls' eating up everything they say to them. And he's got some kind of dagger or knife on him. Oh, it's a big one."

"Sounds like a virgin sacrifice about to happen. Bring the whole group just to make sure in case the first choice isn't. You know where they're going to take them?" Angel asked.

"No, I just got a picture of some old building with a crane." Cordelia told him as Gunn put an arm around her and walked her to the couch. Suddenly he remembered something.

"You know there's an old shipyard a few blocks away from that mall. Used to have a bunch of raves over there. Sounds like a perfect spot to lure some teenage girls with the promise of a good time. Had to bust up many vamp surprise parties over there too."

"That's sounds like as good a place as any to start. Fred get a hold of Wesley, let him know what's going on. Gunn and I…."

"What about me?" Cordelia started. She was afraid of this. Becoming useless in a fight. She had gotten past the hot ass secretary phase a long time ago. She was Xena, as Gunn had called her one night in bed. The name had stuck in and outside the bedroom.

"You are going to stay here with Connor and Fred. Me and Angel got this Cordy. You and me can catch the next one." Gunn told her as he lightly pushed her back down and headed towards the cabinet. Cordelia gave him a nasty look.

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I have to sit around while you big strong men go out and do all of the work. You know I'm good in a fight." Angel looked on between the two and smirk. Ever since Cordelia had started training with them a few years back, she's been ready to jump into the action every since the Beast fiasco. It almost made him proud. Gunn had better reconsider because Cordelia was bound to make his life hell once they got home tonight. Gunn seemed to realize this.

"Okay okay, sheesh woman. I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt or hurt the kid ya know?" Cordelia's face softened a bit at that. He had a point. She couldn't just jump into action without thinking of the consequences. There she had thought about it. Walking to the weapons cabinet she grabbed an axe.

"I know. Let's go. This bitch isn't as fragile as she looks." Gunn shook his head while Angel gave off a small smile. Cordelia really wasn't the same girl he had saved all those years ago but moments like that reminded him of how she used to be.

"You sure you're going to be able to handle a child and Cordy at the same time?" Angel asked as he grabbed his broadsword. Gunn tossed him a look.

"It definitely ain't going to be a walk in the park."

Fred looked on as the three of them headed out the front door. She looked over at Connor who was still sleeping and smiled a bit. She was excited. She was going to be an aunt again. Cordelia and Charles deserved some happiness and even though they seemed to be having problems she was sure that they would be better because of it. Picking up the phone she dialed Wesley.

"Pryce here."

"Hey Wesley." She got out with ease. Wesley smiled on the other line.

"Fred. How are you? I'm almost done wrapping things up over here at the Berik's."

"I'm fine. Angel, Gunn, and Cordelia just left to stop a virgin sacrifice. Vision. Oh, and Cordy's pregnant." There was instant silence on the line.

"Wesley?"

"Did you say Cordelia was pregnant? Is it demonic?"

"No! Why do you and Angel keep saying that? Charles is the father. I mean gosh they've been dating for three years Wesley. This really shouldn't come as much of a surprise." What was it with these guys and the demonic pregnancies?

"I'm sorry, you're right. Well I am happy for the both of them. How did she seem to take it?"

"Well Gunn apparently passed out when he heard the news and Cordelia's been crying nonstop all day and a little bitchy. Moreso than normal anyway." Wesley laughed dryly at Fred's explanation. That sounded about right.

"Guess we outta think about making one of the rooms into a nursey huh? You know, for when they're at work?" Fred queried.

"Let's make sure that Cordelia comes to term first. We don't exactly have the safest job. But yes, eventually she'll have to stay at the office."

"Charles told her as much just now. Needless to say, she didn't take it well."

"I would expect as much."

At that, Fred told Wesley she loved him and hung up the phone. Picking up her physics journal she looked at it before setting it down and sitting next to Connor. What a day indeed. Thank God she and Wesley weren't in the same boat. She would have killed him. Smirking to herself, she eventually dosed off to sleep.


	3. Changes

Group Therapy

Author's Note: Wow, no reviews yet? Well that's discouraging. Somebody's gotta have some kind of opinion, I mean hell it's a pairing you just don't see everyday lol. But seriously I will continue on because I really do enjoy writing this. Hope that those who decide to follow find their fix here. I own nothing related to Angel. Gotta say it. But hey, sky's the limit on paper. Enjoy.

Chapter 3- Changes

A few days later

"Friday at 8am? Okay, , we'll be there thank you." Putting the phone back on the hook Cordelia sighed as she looked over at the sleeping form of her boyfriend on the lobby couch. It had been a three days since life decided to throw a major curveball their way. After the initial shock, she realized that as long as she had her family with her, she'd be alright. However, it didn't mean she was jumping for joy about it either. She had a check-up later this week so she would just have to get over it and accept the fact that these were probably going to be the longest 9 months of her whole life. Oh what fun!

Angel was coming through the basement door as she had just set the phone down. Wesley and Fred had taken Connor to the park to get him out of the dark gloomy hotel for a while. They had been talking to Angel about Connor and exactly how to raise him. He was still a growing human boy who would need contact with kids his own age in order to action function in society. Angel could only do so much without combusting in flames in particular, so everyone else pitched in to help and make sure Connor was taken care of. Now it looked like Connor wouldn't be the only recipient of everyone's support.

"How was the usual hack and slash?" Cordelia asked as she flashed him a greeting smile. Angel smiled back.

"Let's just say the people at the Starbucks on Riverside Dr. won't be enjoying any frappachinos by the window for a couple of days. Grubs are full of gas. Pierce its digestive cavity and they explode. It got kind of messy." Cordelia scrunched her nose up at his rather calm explanation of the day's events.

"Ew." Angel grinned despite himself. Looking over to see Gunn knocked out on the couch Angel tossed Cordelia a look.

"I told him that we were going shopping after work and he took it upon himself to rest up for the trip. It was a slow day. Not that I'm complaining mind you."

"Just don't work him too hard. He is kind of a major asset to the team." Angel teased. Cordy just stuck her tongue out at him. She wasn't going to kill the man, just take him shopping for some baby books and maybe look around at some stuff. Jeez. At the same time though, she'd been thinking about all of the stress she'd put Gunn through the last couple of days. He didn't deserve all of it. The majority, yes; but he'd been with her every step of the way and made sure that she was taken care of. They definitely needed some alone time. Maybe she'd surprise him for once and take him out. She'd have to talk to Fred about it, see if she had any ideas. As if he heard her talking about him mentally, Gunn stretched out his arms as he began to wake up. He looked to see Angel and Cordelia staring at him.

"Angel. Woman ." He acknowledge before letting out a huge yawn. Cordelia rolled her eyes at his comment. He'd been calling her that forever now along with every other nickname in the damn book. "How long was I out for?"

"A whopping 55 minutes." She told him with her sarcastic demeanor back to normal. He rolled his eyes. Things were getting back to normal. Angel noticed that the two of them had been doing a little better. He hoped that it kept up. He was having his own issues to deal that he rather not get into at the moment and he needed to see something positive.

"That's it? Damn. Well, anyway, Angel you got something? Cordy's trying to hold me captive this afternoon." Tossing Cordelia a grin he looked back to Gunn.

"Nope, nothing at all. You two can go enjoy the rest of your day. I'll be fine until Wesley and Fred bring Connor back."

"That's cold dog." Gunn muttered as he looked to see his girlfriend beaming triumphantly in his face. He might as well suck up and pick up a bag of Epson salt to soak his feet when he got home.

"Oh stop complaining you big baby. You know you love spending money on me." She taunted.

"Yeah I get all warm and fuzzy inside." He said as he shook his head mockingly before getting up and grabbing his duffle back.

"You two be safe." Angel told them before disappearing upstairs without another word. Apparently that was the end of the conversation for him. Walking to get a bottled water from the refrigerator, Gunn yawned once more before tossing one to Cordelia and taking a sip himself.

"Thank you." She acknowledged as she took it from him. He nodded.

"You ready to blow?"

"Yeah, just give me a sec. I gotta pee."  
"Is pissing all of the time a symptom of pregnancy or something? You've been back and forth all week long."

"Actually it is dumbass. Speaking of which, I have to be back to the doctor at 8am on Friday for my first check-up. And this time you don't get to have the luxury of making a choice. You're coming with me." She told him so sweetly Gunn knew that she might have well have had him a gunpoint. That's how threatening she was coming across as.

"You got it my fair Cordelia. Put away the fangs aight." With that Cordelia smirked to herself before going to use the bathroom. Gunn could only ponder, how did he get into this mess and was it actually possible to handle a pregnant Cordelia and live to tell the tale?

Mall- Books-a-Million

"Gunn put down the Geekapedia and help me look for some parenting books!"

"Cordy, this isn't just any old book. This is the entire history of the X-men right here. First issue up to now. I got lost years ago trying to keep up." Cordelia sighed deeply. Xander had tortured her in a similar fashion back in high school with the geekdom and apparently underneath Gunn's street savvy was a huge inner dork just waiting for the right time to show itself. Needless to say, when the two of them first met in was instant geek bonding at its finest. She sure knew how to pick em.

"Oh right, I'm sorry I forgot. To care. I'm going to actually get something that's actually useful. Meet me at the register in 10 minutes." With that she threw him a pissed off look and continued on to the other side of the store not wanting anything else to do with her boyfriend at the moment. Whatever.

Gunn knew that she was just being hormonal and all but damn. It was ridiculous. The way he saw it, if he could atleast make it home tonight he could try and zone out in front of the t.v. But that probably wouldn't end well. Turning back to his book he continued to read on.

"You're never going to catch up without reading them. That thing just gives you the overview. All the good stuff's in the issues." A voice Gunn distinctly recognized as female said to him. Looking up he noticed a very cute, and very obvious girl giving him what looked like the "invite look". Trying to end it before it began he tossed her a quick grin and turned back to the book.

"Yeah I know what you mean. Thanks."

"What's your name?" She asked as she pretended to look at the book he was reading. Man she just wouldn't quit.

"Gunn." With that he took a deep breath and looked back up at her.

"That's a unique name. Well Gunn, I'm Brittany." She replied as she flashed him a smile. Gunn sighed again. Better hurry up and deal with this chick before Cordy sees something.

"Look, Brittany, I'm here with my girl Cordelia. She's pregnant and pretty hormonal right now. Not to sound rude or anything, but I really don't want to see her pull your hair out." At that she laughed. Gunn gave her a look of utter confusion. What the fuck?

"Ah, you're just as funny as you are cute. Yeah I know. I saw you with her a few minutes ago. Tall chick, long hair, big boobs. Looks like she's a handful. If you happened to be looking for a break from all of that how about I give you my number just in case?"

"How about let's not?" Cordelia said from behind her. Gunn's breath choked in his throat as he noticed the look of death Cordelia had sent his and her way. Where did she come from and how did she get back so fast? Apparently it had caught Brittany off guard because Gunn noticed the look of shock flash across her face before she regained her composure.

"I can take a hint. Sorry." Brittany told her sweetly. Cordelia wasn't about to have that.

"If you're so good at taking hints you would have realized that my boyfriend was politely trying to blow your dumb, please mister, can I have some more skinny ass off !" Gunn grimaced. Uh oh, looks like the gloves are about to come off. Brittany may have been direct and dense but she wasn't stupid. Cordelia didn't look like the type of woman to fuck with.

"Sheesh, he's cute and all but I'm not about to get into a fight over him. You can have him. Crazy hussie." Brittany told her before walking off muttering. Cordelia tried to grab after her as her eyes followed her the whole way to the door. Gunn held her back partial glad he stopped an asswhooping, partially offended that the broad didn't think he was worth fighting over. Best not to ever repeat that thought around Cordelia. Ever.

"Dumb bitch."

"Come on Cordelia." Gunn tried to offer. Cordelia turned back towards him guns ablazing.

"And you, Gunn, have got about as much sense as a walnut. The next time Super Tramp tries to hit on you, tell her you're taken and walk away. Jeez. You're lucky I actually saw her trying to talk to you because if I had just come a second later, I'd be ready to remove something of yours." Gunn gave her a weak smile.

"Uh, sorry?"

"Shut up and come help me check out these books. Here you can start by taking a look at this one." Shoving a book into his hand Gunn had to chuckle as he read the title.

"Help, I'm a Daddy and It's All My Fault! Cordy what the hell is this?" He laughed. The look on her face remained serious.

"That is going to be your best friend for the next couple of years. It was practically screaming at me to get it for you."

"I guess I should say thank you then." He muttered sarcastically as he stared at her and lightly ran his finger across her cheek. He didn't miss the quick blush she had given away after the fact.

"You'd better. Now, let's go get me a latte. You're not getting off that easy." With that she took his hand and he didn't complain as she led him to the coffee shop on the other side of the store.

After doing a little bit of walking around, Cordelia felt the day start to take a toll on her and Gunn got her home. Opening the door Gunn sat Cordy's books down on the table before running to the bathroom. He'd been holding in it for about 30 minutes. Blowing pass her, he attempted a 40 yard dash to the bathroom. Dennis picked up the last of the bag from her.

"Thanks Dennis. I'm so tired. Gunn almost caused me to beat some girl's ass tonight." She managed to get out as she practically collapsed on the sofa. She felt so tired and drained. It sucked majorly. Dennis floated a pad towards her. She took it and overlooked the message and checked her caller id.

"Willow called. I don't think I've even told anyone in Sunnydale about the baby yet? Hand me the phone Dennis." Floating it over just as quick as she mentioned it, Cordelia dialed in Willow's number with ease.

"Yello?" Came the chippy redhead's voice on the other side.

"Willow's it's Cordelia. You called?" She could feel herself brightening up.

"Cordy, hey! Yeah, I was just checking on you. Haven't heard from any of you in a while. Me and Tara were actually thinking about coming down to L.A sometime in the next few months. Depends on when Dawn's going off to college. She's doing a couple of years overseas in Rome." Cordelia gasped.

"Dawn's in college? Last time I saw the squirt she was asking me about cup sizes!"

"Well, she's definitely not asking about them now. Little Dawnie's a total hottie." Willow got out with a small laugh. Cordelia joined in. Gunn just happened to walk by. He gave her a questioning look.

"Willow" Cordelia mouthed back silently. Nodding his head he grunted and went back into the kitchen to fix himself a sandwich. Turning her attention back to the phone Cordelia continued with her conversation.

"I bet. I'm glad she's doing better. It took her a while to get over…you know. Anyway, how's the resident dork and Ms. I'll be more than happy to take your money? Did they ever get married?" She queried. Willow sighed loudly.

"Nope. They've been engaged for about 4 years now and it looks to stay that way. Xander asked about you not too long ago though. Wondered when you and Gunn were coming back to Sunnydale? I think he misses having another guy around. All he has is Spike now."

"Need you say more?"

"Exactly." Willow finished. "Anyway, how are you and the gang doing? Other than stopping some sorceress from sacrificing the world from some ancient temple it's been pretty quiet here." Cordelia laughed to herself. Willow was going to get a kick out of this.

" Yeah, same here. Biggest thing we got going on is some demon gang trying to take over the city. Whatever. Uh let's see, Angel's still Angel. Less broody, and more daddy-capable. And currently not slaughtering us or anyone else. Always a plus. Wes and Fred are still the world's sexiest gun-toting bookworm couple that I know. She just got her license to teach physics at the university and Wesley's got this Clint Eastwood stubble thing going on at the moment and he's less tweedy. He almost looks Hot if it wasn't for the fact that somehow all I see is the big dork he's always been. And oh yeah, me and Gunn are having a baby."

"What?" Willow practically screamed into the phone making Cordy wince and smile at the same time. That was pretty much the reaction she expected.

"I know, that's was my exact reaction when I found out a few days ago. I wanted to kill him at first but after accepting it, I'm actually kind of excited." She admitted as she took the plate Gunn had brought to her. He sat down next to her and flipped the t.v on to some show Cordelia didn't even know.

"Cordy, that's great! You're having a baby. You of all people, the most selfish, narcissistic, shallow thinking…" Willow started before Cordelia jumped in to interrupted her.

"Hey, hey, hey now, that's the old me. You know I'm big with the helping the helpless thing now. I mean hello, I've had these headsplitting visions for almost 7 years. I'm not so selfish anymore."

"Yes she is!" Gunn yelled loud enough for Willow to hear. She started to crack up on the other line. Cordelia slapped him on the chest before grinning.

"Well, maybe just a little." She amended.

"Anyway, you better definitely keep me informed and let me know when the due date is. You will be getting presents."

"Now that definitely sounds like something I can do." Cordelia told her with affirmation at the thought of receiving gifts. Willow laughed once again.

"Okay Cordelia, I gotta go. Xander's coming over so we can patrol. I think Spike's already in the room with Dawn talking his head off about her new boyfriend. Tell Gunn and the others I said hi. Oh I'm so excited. You're the first of us to actually have a kid. Considering our lives, kind of gives me hope that we won't all die premature horrible deaths." Cordelia nodded at that.

"Amen to that sister. Let me know when you and Tara decide to come this way. I'm sure Angel will have a room ready for you no problem. We'll drag Fred from Wesley for a couple of hours and have a girl's night out."

"Sounds good. Talk to you soon. Bye."

"Bye." Hanging up the phone Cordelia turned to Gunn who was dozing in and out of the movie he was watching. What was she going to do with this man?

"Gunn?" She tried at first. He didn't answer.

"Gunn!"

As he jumped up Cordelia burst out laughing at his lost expression. He turned to her with a pissed off look. Was that really caused for? He had just gotten to that point where he was getting sleepy.

"Willow said hi."

"Gee thanks." He muttered still obviously irritated. Cordelia grinned before leaning over his chest. Gunn almost tensed up at the gesture. It had been a while since he and Cordelia had just laid together on the couch and watched t.v. Especially considering how their busy life just got flipped upside down. Usually, after coming home, it was late and all the two of them wanted to do was get a shower and sleep. This was actually kind of nice. Gunn had to admit he did miss it. He missed a lot of the things he and Cordelia used to do.

"I missed this." Cordelia seemed to be reading his mind.

"So did I."

"I guess after three years the spark was sure to die down huh?" Cordelia ventured. She had never told him that directly but she knew that he had figured it out.

"Maybe. Doesn't me we can't rekindle it though. You are still my number one priority kid or no kid. You're my Wonder Woman." Cordelia sighed loudly.

"Will you Please stop calling me all of these superhero names?"

"Probably not. They describe your crazy ass so well."

"Grrr." Gunn chuckled at her sad attempted at a growl.

"So, Xena, how would you feel about a night on the town with the fineness that is me. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity." Cordelia sized him up and had to contain her laughter. Look at him, trying to rekindle their spark by asking her out on a date as if for the first time. Needless to say it was working.

"I don't know, I have such a great boyfriend at home but I need some adventure in my life." She played along. Gunn gave her a sly look.

"Oh is that right? I can give you that. In more ways than one."

"Then I suppose I'm free tomorrow night. Unless the Powers believe in crashing dates like they've done on so many occasions."

"Don't worry about it. I'll get Angel and Wes to handle any vision related stuff. We need this." Gunn told her with certainty returning to his normal demeanor. Cordelia nodded before leaning in to capture his lips. Sleepy or not she needed this right now. She already knew why she'd couldn't lose Gunn. He was one of the greatest things that ever happened to her. But after the last few months of arguing and bitching, and not spending as much time together as they once had, she needed a little reminder. Throw in the fact she was pregnant with his child, sometimes a little reminder couldn't hurt.

"I love you." She eased out as she pulled away from him. That took Gunn by surprise. He and Cordy were affectionate but not super lovey-dovey types. Other than before going to sleep and a few other times, they didn't really tell each other that too often. They were afraid it would lose its impact. Maybe they needed to change that and remind each other more often.

"I love you too Cordelia." He replied back slowly wondering what prompted her sudden statement of the fact.

"Yeah well, figured you needed a refresher. I've been a bitch for the last few months."

"Don't worry about all that right now. We've been through worse. You ready for bed?" Gunn asked as he stretched. He was dreadfully sleepy now. Besides he, Wes, and Angel had a lead to follow tomorrow. Apparently Wolfram and Hart were the suspects behind some kind of new demon mafia that was setting up shop in the city. It was the basic intel job but with Wolfram and Hart there was never such a thing as basic intel. Something would happen. Oh well, worry about it tomorrow. He focused back on Cordelia.

"Definitely. But first, I gotta go to the bathroom." With that she was up and out of the den into the bathroom. Gunn chuckled to himself.

"Well, that book did say that they tend to have more frequent urination at night." He spoke outloud. Dennis threw a pillow at him.

"Just wait until she starts to waddle." Gunn replied with a laugh. Even as he joked he had to admit he was excited. Not just for the baby, but for him and Cordelia as well. He was finally going to have a family of his own, despite everything in his life that suggested otherwise. If Alonna was here today she'd be jumping for joy, gushing with Cordelia about potential baby names. Those two would have hit it off. God how he missed his baby sister. Of course this child would never be a replacement but in a sense Gunn figured girl or boy, his sister would live on a little through them. That was something he would try his damndest to make happen.

Author's Note: As I write this, I'm thinking to myself, life can't stay easy for them. Because life never does. We'll see what happens. But for now, why not wallow in the euphoria before life comes crashing down I always say lol. Until next time Hell Yeah!


	4. We'll Ask the Questions

Group Therapy

Author's Note: Alright, here is the next part of my pseudo-epic story lol. I'm toying around with an idea in this chapter and I'm in the process of trying to see where I can develop it down the line. For those who are continuing to follow thanks and enjoy. I don't own Angel or anything related but I will use the characters at my leisure.

Chapter 4- We'll Ask the Questions

Lilah only flinched for a second as she noticed the door to her office nearly come of the hinge and slam closed just as quickly. She was face to face with the same man she'd been trying to get to go evil for the past seven years. You'd think the Senior Partners would kick the plan into overdrive to make Angel join the dark side. Not so much. Overlooking the trio she smirked as she bit on the cap of her pen.

"You know Angel, at this point in our relationship you can come through the front door and no one will stop you I assure you." She acknowledged knowing good and well that it was one'o clock in the afternoon and it was scorching hot outside with the sun. She was on lunch to be exact. Angel grinned tight lipped at her despite her obvious quip causing Wesley and Gunn to raise eyebrows. Exactly how many times had Angel come to see Lilah on or off hours?

"Thanks for the offer. You know why we're here."

"Yeah, you beat the hell out of one of my paralegals last week who just so happens to collect human organs on the side. So you're trying to get some info on the new players in town? What's with the two do-boys?" Gunn had to keep himself from slapping this broad. As hot as she was, she just gave off an aura that screamed heartless bitch. And Lilah's apparently seemed to be a little too used to Angel the way she was just pouring out useful information without a catch. Wow that was suspicious? Wesley apparently felt the same by the look on his face. But neither of them would dare try to call Angel on it.

"Infiltrating Wolfram and Hart, never hurts to have some back up. Enough games Lilah, who are these new players and what's their interest in Los Angeles? I got more demons coming to me with disappearance and protection cases than I do humans right now. Something's up and there's a 99% chance it's got something to do with you."Lilah smiled that evil empty smile she always did.

"You really are as dumb as they say aren't you? These guys aren't new players, they've been here for atleast 90 years. If you did your homework you'd know that they have been underground. Ever since you white hats managed to take out the Fell Brethren last year, there hasn't been much in the way of competition."

"The Fell Brethren were major catalyst in the recent resurgence in Demonic extremism, with the support of your resources no doubt." Wesley interjected. Lilah smiled at him.

"No wonder they call you Head Boy. Always to the point." Gunn just rolled his eyes as did Wesley who had shot her a pissed off glance. Lilah smirked before she continued.

"Wolfram and Hart just supplies the cash and the legalese to keep operations running smooth. It's not a primary interest to us, more like an investment we'd like to see some promising returns from. What better way to erode hope in humanity than to start with the hopeless? You wanna go take these new guys down, have fun. I could care less one way or the other. Besides, the liaison to the Senior Partners just got incinerated last week and we're waiting on the replacement so no major apocalypse plans for us in the near future. Sorry."

"Fair enough, but we did come for info. You can give us a name." Angel threatened getting back into his usual stride. Lilah didn't flinch.

"We know how this dance is going to end so let's skip the foreplay Angel." She said as she shot him a look that screamed "I hate you so much I'm practically soaking myself just thinking about you screwing me". Gunn and Wesley looked at each other. Huh? Did they miss something? Exactly when did the sexual tension get so thick it was smothering them? Angel had been harassing the bitch for years and as far as they knew they hated each other with a passion.

'Guess you can hate the ground a person stands on and still want to bang the living daylights out of them', Gunn though to himself. Angel and Lilah gave off that vibe. The real question was...were they actually doing just that?

"They don't have a name. It's just known as the Syndicate. Headed by a demon named Salum and his family. Big into extracting souls and willpower on the side. They've got contracts from here to Vegas. Sounds like it's right up your might wanna look into it." She offered. Angel continued to give her a threatening stare before relenting. That was all he was going to get from her. Apparently Wolfram and Hart were not heavily involved at the moment so that meant back to the drawing board and to the streets.

"Wes, Gunn we're done here. We got what we came for." Wesley nodded.

"Agreed." With that Gunn and Wesley headed for the door as Angel headed there as well.

"And Angel?" Lilah called from behind him before crossing her legs towards him in her chair.

"Close the door on your way out." She said with a sly look of seduction and smugness worn across her face. Angel had seen the look time and time again. Hell the scent of lust and warmness she gave off was blatantly obvious. It was also obvious that she knew he was attracted to it ironically. Doing the dance around it for years and years, Angel had picked up on her game. Lilah didn't want Angel dead or for the apocalypse or even Angelus for that matter. Wolfram and Hart did. Lilah wanted Angel, for her own personal reasons; most likely to exert complete control over him for once like he had done to her so many times. It was quite the conundrum, two mortal enemies with a strong sexual attraction to one another. Strangely enough, even after she tried to kill him, his friends, and even his son at one point, he still had some sick attraction to the woman and quite frankly he felt kind of ashamed to admit it. He knew full well any show of weakness and she'd exploit him like he'd done her so many times and that's what Wolfram and Hart wanted. A moment of weakness. Not even wanting to explore the possibility of that idea he slammed the door behind him.

On the Way Back to the Hyperion

"And back to square one we are. Atleast the body count was low and we still managed to get some helpful information." Wesley started as he looked out of the passenger side window. Angel practically snorted, a habit he had picked up from Cordelia no doubt.

"Well Lilah can be very giving."

"Hmm. Onto other matters." Wesley finished after a pause. "I'll have to check my references and research the history of this Salum and his story here in Los Angeles. If he's been here for almost a century he must have his roots planted firmly in the underground crime scene as well as the black market. Perhaps we can use some of our sources to trace potential members of this syndicate?" Gunn clasped his hands together finally glad to get some action. He missed hitting the streets and now he was about to jump back in.

"I could get with Rondell and the crew and do some recon around the neighborhood, see if anyone's talking. I'm betting that a whole gang of demons would be pretty obvious so they gotta be recruiting people." Angel nodded.

"Look into recent disappearances and homicides too. See if we can find a pattern. Syndicates usually knock off those who threaten the organization and if these guys have taken control, the bodies should start turning up pretty soon."

"Man what a week." Gunn muttered outloud. Wesley turned to him with a grin.

"Yes it has been. On that note, Cordelia and I had quite the conversation earlier this morning. She's taking the news a little better now I see."

"Yeah she's coming around. We even went and picked up a couple of baby books last night. She almost ripped some poor chick's hair out in the bookstore though." Gunn said with a laugh. Angel and Wesley turned back to him now intrigued as to what had set her off.

"Some chick was being relentless and trying to hit on me. I even told her I was there with Cordy and she still tried to give me her number." Angel chuckled slightly.

"I'm guessing Cordelia didn't take that too well."

"You damn right she didn't! I thought she was going to turn green and go all Hulk Smash on her ass! You should have seen it. Like 2 minutes later she was back to normal forcing me to buy her a latte. I swear it was like she was bipolar."

"Well, from what I know about pregnancy, the rapid swing in mood is quite normal. And being that Cordelia is somewhat unpredictable sometimes anyway, quite frankly it would suck to be you right now." Wesley offered as comforting as he could without laughing in his friends face. Not many men could survive the wrath of Cordelia Chase's tongue-lashing even on a good day so Wesley had to give him some credit. Gunn had been doing it nonstop for three years and counting.

"Whatever English. Anyway, Cordy's got an appointment with the doctor on Friday, I'm nervous as hell. All kinds of bad could happen."

"I'm sure she and the baby will be fine." Angel supplied helpfully from the driver's seat. Gunn nodded.

"I hope so. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I'm gonna be a father man." Angel couldn't help smile at his friend. He knew how it felt, it was overwhelming. Of course his own case was unique but still Gunn hadn't expected to live long enough to see his now 27 years let alone have a child. The outcast youth he had first met all of those years ago had finally gotten the chance to live for himself again rather than living to die. In a sense it made Angel proud. Wesley too noticed the euphoric look flash across Gunn's features. He hadn't seen Gunn so taken by something since he first started dating Cordelia. It was definitely a nice sight to see. Saying nothing else the trio of men rode back to the Hyperion in silence each of them lost in their own thoughts.

Back at the Hyperion

Cordy wanted Mexican. Gone to lunch. Took Connor. Be back soon. –Fred

"Well looks like we've been duped once again. How come the girls always wait til we're all gone before they get some real food?" Gunn complained as he plopped down on the couch. Angel walked past him with a cup of pig's blood a few moments later making Gunn narrow his eyes at him. That wasn't right. Wesley stepped out of his office soon after and tossed a book into Gunn's lap.

"China King? Why the hell not? You want the moo-shu?" Wesley gave him look. The answer was yes of course. Gunn already knew this.

"Gotcha. Wonder if they got a lunch special on the chicken wings?" With that he started to search through the old dusty yellow pages in search of the afternoon lunch. Wesley returned to researching and Angel kicked back to finish enjoy his liquid diet. The sound of the door and Cordelia running pass the men and into the bathroom forced Gunn to look up. Angel glanced for second before going back to sipping his blood. He'd seen Cordelia run to the bathroom so much this past week it was pretty much common place now. Fred and Connor followed in soon after. Connor ran to jump into Angel's lap and show him the water gun Fred had bought for him. Walking toward the counter, Wesley stopped what he was doing to help her.

"Thank you Wesley. Me and Cordy got ya'll something." At that Gunn threw down the phone book and jumped up. Wasn't that nice of them? It'd give him a break on Chinese. Wesley smiled as he noticed Gunn make his way over.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you thought of us. Gunn was rather upset." Wesley teased.

"Hey, I'm just saying, it wouldn't hurt to wait for us before you get some food every once in a while. Especially Mexican. Did Cordy get..," Gunn started before the woman in question's voice rang from the other side of the lobby.

"Quesadillas? Yeah yeah I got them. So how was the big shakedown?" She asked as she went to sit at her desk. Gunn grabbed his plate and walked over to sit on the side of it.

"Same old shit. Angel and Lilah exchanged a little verbal foreplay before issuing threats and such. Apparent these new players in town ain't all that new." Gunn managed to get out around bites into his food. Angel shot Gunn a look before returning his attention to Cordelia.

"Salum. He's a soul-extractor. Head of a demon crime family that just so happens to be expanding its ranks. That explains the uptick in demon related disappearances and homicide cases recently. Might want to start looking at police reports for patterns of gang activity as well as drug busts and where they are concentrated."

"How do I know that it's just not the usual human variety doing all of this stuff?" Cordelia asked as she booted up her Macbook and tied her hair into a ponytail. She glanced up at Gunn who was so into his food Cordelia swore he was going to lick the plate clean. She smirked to herself at the thought.

"Because since there's no more heavy competition left. It's either be killed or join them. Lilah said that this family has been working the streets of Los Angeles for almost a century behind the scenes but never had the chance to evolve until now. And it's partly our fault because we took out their main competitor, the Fell Brethern. This is a serious matter. It's only a matter of time before their influence spreads. And with Wolfram and Hart backing them up you can expect the city to be overrun within a few months. Once people lose hope, they become desperate and usually irrational. Compound that with unrest with the demon population. Perfect elixir for the set up of the next apocalypse and Wolfram and Hart can benefit without having to supply all of the handywork. It would be more cost-effective." Wesley clarified as he returned back to his book. Fred was looking intently at the passage. Wesley had already began highlighting and making references. Uh oh, looks like it was that time again. Taking that as a sign to cue them out Gunn focused his attention back on his girlfriend.

"I saw you run in here like a bat outta hell. The morning sickness getting worse?" He asked as he took another bite. Cordelia nodded.

"It shouldn't be called morning sickness. I have nausea almost the whole day. I just know I was craving some Mexican and Connor was hungry so…"

"And you paid for it by blowing chunks for like the second time today." Gunn finished for her causing her to give him a sarcastic look.

"Well aren't we perfecting our obvious statement technique today? Anyway, these guys Angel and Wesley were talking about; are they the next big bad?"

"Looks that way. Now that I think of it, Rondell said that some guys were setting up shop in Venice Heights. He asked if I wanted to check it out with them." Cordelia caught on the tone of his voice and prodded him to continue.

"And you're not going to? Might be a lead."

"Might be. But we barely get to spend alone time with each other now. I told him just to keep me informed. And now that we're expecting some company, I can't just jump at every opportunity to mix it up with some baddies anymore." Gunn told her as he rubbed his hand across her belly. Cordelia smiled slighty as she looked on. It may have been subtle but every since she found out about the baby, it had been slowly changing Gunn's perspective on life. Soon it would be about all about that child. It was slowly changing her too. Even though it had been a little less than a week, just the idea of even having a child of her own was amazing to her. Hell, she and Fred were more like mother figures to Connor than aunts and it showed. She couldn't imagine what it would be like raising one of her own along with him.

"So what's the score tonight?" Gunn asked as put his plate down. Cordelia smirked at him.

"You mean score as in what are we doing?" She replied before flashing him a full fledged smile.

"Yeah. Looks like you could use away from these guys." He teased as he gestured to his friends on the other side of the lobby. Angel was playing with Connor in vamp face which for some reason Connor loved, Wes and Fred were engaged in research mode and taking about something Gunn couldn't even be to understand and here he was messing with his girlfriend. What else was new?

"I suppose. What do you suggest?"

"Let's see where the night takes us."

"Let's not and you figure something out."

"Ball-buster."

"Only yours."

At that Gunn had to laugh. Getting up to stand behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. The squeeze turned into a massage and Cordelia eventually stopped whatever it was she was doing and sighed contently.

"I got an idea." She said so quietly Gunn almost missed it.

"What?"

"Put-put." Gunn shook his head.

"Oh no -a Vamp. Last time we did that you almost knocked Angel out with that club."

"Oh shut up! That was an accident."

"It didn't feel like one." Angel said loudly from the other side of the lobby.

"You can too Angel!." She spat back. Turning her attentions back to her boyfriend she caught his amused look.

"What? You change your mind now because you look like it."

"As long as I give you about 30 feet that'll give me time to dodge the club when you toss it."

"I swear one time…" she began before Gunn squeezed her shoulder once more and walked off before she could get started on her tirade again.

"Angel you wanna have a friendly sparring match?" Friendly as in he was going to give the vampire a run for his money. Angel caught on fairly quickly.

"Sure. Connor you want to see Daddy beat up Gunn?"

"Like Gunn kicked that demon's ass!" Angel turned about 3 shades paler before turning red and turning directly to Gunn who just shrugged.

"Must've have been watching something he shouldn't have been watching." He told him with a chuckle before grabbing his axe. Angel rolled his eyes. Cordelia wanted to correct the boy but along with Wes and Fred she was too busy laughing at Angel's face to get the words out.

"Don't say that word Connor. Or anything else that comes out of Gunn's mouth." Connor looked at him blankly before smiling and sticking his tongue out at him and running down to the basement to follow Gunn. Angel grabbed his broadsword and followed, intent on giving Gunn a few tips on daddy advice. As that scene played out Cordelia logged off from her computer and pulled out her coveted Entertainment Weekly.

"Oh my God, they let her go out in public like that?" She said to herself as she overlooked the picture. Well with the exception of being pregnant and all kinds of bad heading their way it was just a normal day at the office. She was pretty sure that wasn't going to last too long. But at least she and Gunn were finally getting some well deserved alone time. Maybe that'd work out alittle better.


	5. Reconnecting

Group Therapy

Author's Note: First off, it should be a given I don't own Angel or anything related. I'm simply using the characters. This chapter here is basically just showcasing some interaction between our favorite duo and hopefully reflects one of the reasons why shit-talking and sexual tension is like the life-force for these two lol. Hope this chapter does them justice. It gets pretty steamy later aka SEX later on though in the chapter just to warn you. And I assure you it won't be the last time either.

Chapter 5- Reconnecting

The sting of the aftershave on his face was enough to wake Gunn up from his early evening daze. Grabbing a towel to wipe his face off he caught sight of his girlfriend dancing behind him to the radio. Madonna. It figures. She sure looked like she was having fun as she slid on her clothes. She noticed him leaning on the doorframe and froze.

"Must those bad ass cheerleading routines at work huh?" Gunn teased as he overlooked her. She had decided to go with tight pants and a low cut top tonight which pleased him greatly. Despite her recent condition, she didn't seem to show too much weight gain but you could tell that she was getting considerable thicker. Gunn also noticed her boobs looked a little bigger too. Of course they weren't exactly small to begin with.

"As if you didn't know." She shot back while pulling her shirt over her head. "Sunnydale High Class of 99 baby! Where you're most likely to get sacrificed and/or eaten, if not flat out killed before you get to senior year. We had a very low graduation rate." Gunn laughed at the seriousness of her statement.

"I bet. I mean come on, you told me once some chick went invisible and tried to kill you. If I had went to high school it sure as hell wouldn't have been yours. Not that you would have given me the time of day anyway." Cordelia nodded with a smirk.

"You're right I wouldn't have .I probably would have pepper sprayed you for thinking you were going to rob me or something. How wrong I would have been you big closet dork." Gunn smirked at her as she gave him a smile that said otherwise."

"I got one word for you in response to that statement."

""What?"

"Wesley." Cordelia pouted at that. She couldn't really argue that mind blip.

"That's not fair. I plead temporary insanity."

"So Xander was temporary too?"

"Shut up Gunn! So I'm a big geek magnet, you don't have to remind me, looking at you reminds me every day." Cordelia told him with mock exasperation as she grabbed her purse.

"Yeah?" He asked as he picked up the keys.

"Yeah."

"This coming from the chick who wanted to play put-put tonight?" With that she rolled her eyes and followed him out of the room.

"Dennis, we're going out. Be back later!" She yelled as she got to the door and closed it behind them. Seconds later the lights flickered off and Gunn was walking Cordelia to his truck. He opened up the passenger side and helped her up.

"How come we always have to take the heavy duty death trap when we go out?" She queried as she watched Gunn get in and start the ignition. Ever since she had known the man, Gunn never thought about getting another car or truck. Something about this truck saving a lot of lives or some shit. Well if he didn't want to get rid of it he could have at least gotten some comfortable seats and painted it. But at least he got the A/C fixed. She told him once that if she sweated her hair out in his truck one more time she wasn't riding with him anymore and she was cutting him off from getting some until he did. He lasted a week before he got it fixed.

"Because I wouldn't be caught dead driving that lego block you call a car. It's too cramped."

"But it's cute!"

"Like I said, wouldn't be caught dead." He answered as a reply before reaching to turn on his stereo. Cordelia looked at him as the music came on. Gunn had the same cd in his truck for the past 2 weeks and still hadn't taken it out yet. What was the name of it again? She had seen his name on the cd case before.

"Who is this again? That Two Pack guy?" She asked outloud. Gunn had to register what she just said. Once he did there was no holding back from the laughter. Cordelia narrowed her eyes and slapped him on the chest.

"Hey you ass!"

"Sorry. But that was…some funny shit." He managed to get out before lifting the cd case from the middle of the truck and passing it to her.

"It's Tupac. Me Against the World. I still remember going into the record store and stealing this album because I couldn't afford to buy it. 1995 I think it came out. I was about 17." He told her as he thought about it. He had some good memories despite the suckiness of his life back then. Playing ball with the crew listening to this album was one of them. Cordelia caught on to his reminiscing but said nothing and instead looked out the window and went into her own thoughts. After three years, she still only knew bits and pieces of Gunn's life because that's all he ever gave. She guessed that a lot of it wasn't really fun to talk about.

"Connor needs a playmate." She said seemingly from nowhere. Where the hell did that come from? Gunn slowly turned to look at her.

"Yeah I know, we talked to Angel about it but there ain't exactly a place where we can go and rent a kid for a couple of hours. What made you bring that up?" He asked obviously confused.

"When Fred and I took him with us to the Mexican restaurant there was a family with kids waiting in the lobby next to us. The kids tried to get Connor to play with them and he just hid behind my leg. The poor kid has no social skills. How's he supposed to function once he goes to school? Home school's not an option for him."

"Well in about nine months he'll have a playmate if everything goes as planned. They'll basically be cousins right?" Gunn offered, still getting used to the fact that Cordelia was carrying his child. She shook her head.

"Yeah but that's not the same. He needs more social skills than you and Angel showing him how to fight and kill stuff. I mean face it, the only mother figures he has is Fred and I. But we both can't be full time mothers to him. Especially me you know because we kinda got one of our own to worry about . I don't think Angel realizes how important it is that Connor gets out around more people. How could he, he's not exactly big on the whole mingling with society thing either being a vampire and all."

"So what are you thinking then?" Gunn asked not exactly sure where she was going with this. Cordelia sighed in frustration.

"I don't know. What's something that he can do without his daddy bursting into flames?"

"Watch the Lakers." She snorted at that remark.

"I'm serious Gunn."

"Me too. Only way the kid's going to get used to people is to be around them and a NBA game is going to have plenty of them. We all can go." Cordelia sat there contemplating his offer. She hated the game. She hated Gunn when he was all gung-ho about Kobe and his Lakers. But the gang hadn't been out together since they decided to go to Outback a few weeks back after stopping that guy that put a curse on his wife. Due to the black magic side effects, it allowed her shadow to become corporeal and start killing people. Fred had to stay on Connor watch in Angel's car so she got to miss the part where they almost got cursed themselves before Angel knocked the man out. Needless to say that was a fun night. Blah!

"You're an asshole you know that."

"Huh? For what?"

"Using Connor's very serious anti-social problem as a way to see your precious Lakers play."

"So?" Cordelia just let out a low growl knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with him. Even moreso because of the fact that it was a good idea. And even though she didn't want to admit, she wanted to the gang to go out together and just have a good time for once instead of dealing with the creepies 24/7.

"I'm not putting on one of those ugly jerseys that don't coordinate with anything I own." She relented a few seconds later. Gunn just smiled and continued to drive on. He was going to get her to put one on before she got too big for one because of the baby. Rather she knew it or not.

40 Minutes Later

"What made you want to do this anyway?" Gunn asked as he handed his girlfriend her club and the two made their way onto the course. From what he could remember, Cordelia wasn't really into the whole being outside and getting fresh air thing. She just shrugged.

"I dunno. I was trying to think of something we both sucked at. Fred and Wesley effectively beat our royal asses last time so…" Gunn chuckled at her reasoning.

"That they did. But there's one flaw to your logic. I don't suck at all." Gunn issued back as they reached the first hole. Cordelia shot him a smirk that read "Whatever" and it was one she alone could muster.

"Okay Happy Gilmore, take a shot." She challenged. Gunn did so with a cocky grin as he stepped up.

"Awesome movie by the way." He whispered from the side of his mouth. She nodded in agreement.

"Wasn't it though?" At that Gunn proceeded to take his first swing. He managed to connect and hit the ball only to watch it sail over the fence. Okay, that was a little too hard of a swing he rationalized. Cordelia chuckled dryly before mocking him.

"Way to go Tiger. If that's your definition of not sucking at this game then I just might have a chance after all. Scoot." Sticking her tongue out at him she used her booty to slightly bump him over. Gunn made sure he copped a feel before doing so. Cordelia rolled her eyes at him. So damn anxious he was. If he held on to his pants for a minute she might actually consider. It had been a while since they had been intimate anyway. But for now she wanted to enjoy tonight. They hadn't been on a "date date" in quite some time.

Taking her swing Cordelia tried to do exactly the opposite of what Gunn had done. Instead of whacking the shit out of the ball she tapped it at moderate strength. It bounced a few times before rolling onto the green, considerable closer to the whole than Gunn's which was probably out in the parking lot somewhere. The man in question visibly grunted.

"That was a fluke." He said while sucking his teeth. Cordelia made sure to smile brightly in his face when she proceeded to knock the ball into the first hole. One down, seventeen more to go.

Ten Holes Later

Gunn had picked up his stride and now he was giving Cordy a run for her money. They were on the eleventh hole and the conversation had shifted from joking around to discussing the couple's favorite mutual interest. Both were diehard fans of Michael Jackson's music and attempting to replicate his routines. So much that Cordelia had butchered Dirty Diana the last time the group went to visit Lorne in his new club he opened up in Las Vegas.

"I so got you on "Can't Stop Til You Get Enough". Don't even go there with me Charles." Cordelia belted out at him knowing good and well anyone but Fred calling him by his first name just sounded weird. Gunn waved her off as he lightly tapped the ball and watch it roll into the hole. He turned back to her wearing a shitfaced grin.

"Keep telling yourself that." He shot back as he picked up the ball and the two walked to the next hole. Tonight had turned out to be a pretty fun night so far and getting Cordelia riled up over something not so serious was a nice change from Crazy Bitch Cordelia that he had to deal with the past few weeks. He could see the two of them bring their kid here when they were old enough doing the family thing. It used to be something he frowned upon but now he could honestly say he was excited about the whole thing. Cordelia noticed him in thought and poked him on the arm.

"Hello?"

"Huh?"

"You're spacing out."

"Oh just thinking."

"That's unusual." She retorted playfully as she took her shot. Gunn didn't issue a biting reply this time around.

"I could definitely see us bring our kid here and doing the domestic thing one day." He told her as he looked at her. She could hear the excitement in his voice. It was nice. Especially since he was the father. It was good that he was happily on board because she didn't want to go through any of that baby mama drama bullshit.

"The domestic thing huh? Mr. I have a death wish turned family man. Who would have thought?"

"I guess. I was thinking about it and regardless of how dangerous our lives are, if we're both there, they won't have anything to worry about. We do help the helpless right?" Cordelia smirked at him.

"I think…this is more about you being afraid of protecting and raising it and it's finally hit home to you. I'm glad that you're excited. But a lot can happen between now and then. Let's not get too excited in case something does. I'm only about 9 weeks in." She explained to him as she closed the gap between the two of them. She'd been thinking about the whole situation as long if not longer than he was. And she was more scared than anything. Anything could happen between now and her due date whenever that was and that was something she didn't think she would be able to handle right now.

"Yeah you're right. Angel was nothing but straight gooey when he first brought Connor home. Now I understand why. Thanks for the memo."

"Anytime."

Kissing her on the forehead, Cordelia couldn't help but melt at the embrace he had her in. Of course for ever time Gunn made her want to commit murder he had atleast dozen more moments like this that negated every one of them. If she had never gotten sucked into Pylea, she never would have gotten out of her funk about the visions affecting her life or noticed how much Gunn actually cared about her and exactly how much she actually cared about him. God that seemed ages ago. After taking a moment, she shot him a comforting smile before he returned it and the two of them continued on.

30 minutes later Cordelia and Gunn had finished their game in which Gunn pulled through and won and were now on their way home. But before that, they had to pull over and stop because Cordelia had to pee. Again. Having to go through a rough patch of town to get to the freeway and back to their apartment Gunn wasn't about to let Cordy go in there by herself, especially at this time of night. Getting out of the truck first he opened the door to let her out. She obviously wasn't feeling the locale but at this point, her bladder didn't really care one way or the other.

"I gotta go." She spat as she rushed passed him. She must have really had to go because she didn't make any comments at all. Gunn noticed the group of people standing on the corner watching the two of them. He glared back at them. A car drove up to them and they turned away. Most likely some kind of drug sale. Best to hurry up and get outta here. Looking around for anymore signs of trouble he continued on into the store.

He looked to see that Cordelia had already gone into the bathroom. Brave trooper he thought to himself. Grabbing himself a Snickers and Cordy a Chocodile, he kept an eye towards the bathrooms as he walked up to the counter to pay. Cordelia came out a few moments later with a look that screamed shocked and disgusted.

"Ugh! I'm taking a bath in bleach water when I get home." She got out as she got next to him. Gunn chuckled. That statement was long overdue.

"How about we just use the bubble bath instead?" He suggested as the two walked out of the store.

"We? Who said anything about you buster!" She told him incredulously with a smirk.

"Is that a bad idea?"

"Gunn, you are not a small guy. By any means." She told him as the corner of her mouth tightening to hold her laughter.

"Okay, shower then." She laughed softly at his attempt to reassess the situation.

"Deal." She told him as she grabbed his hand. Gunn opened up his bag and handed her snack to her. She was beaming instantly.

"Oh my God, I've been craving one of these for the longest."

"Along with everything else in sight. Well you are eating for two now."

"You are just in awe of this kid aren't you?" She joked as she stepped into the truck. Gunn looked down to her abdomen and smile back at her. He really was.

"Yeah, but the mama got a leg up at the moment. Most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Cordelia chuckled as he moved to get in the truck. He was doing his damndest to get those brownie points wasn't he? Turning on the engine, Gunn pulled out of the station and looked at his girlfriend. She was looking back at him biting her lip and according to her eyes, didn't need to say anything. He returned the gesture and drove just a little faster to the freeway.

Outside the apartment

"Door…now." Cordelia mumbled in between Gunn's kisses along her neck as she grabbed for him. Somehow her hair had fallen out of her ponytail, she didn't remember if she did it or Gunn did but it was getting all in her face. She did not care. Gunn's hands were reaching for her in places she hadn't been touched correctly at in a while. He was bulging and it was all she needed to know at the moment. Fumbling for his keys, Gunn attempted to open the door. As the coolness of the apartment hit them, Gunn pushed the door open and picked Cordelia up slightly to get her over the threshold. Now plastered against the wall, Cordelia moaned in ecstasy as he basically was dry humping her. She noticed that he was trying to be forceful but not too rough. Well how considerate of him. Now could he fuck her brains out already?

"Bed Cordy. Bedroom." Gunn managed to get out before hoisting Cordelia up and allowing her to wrap her legs around him. The lights to the hallway came on to guide the two to the bedroom. Cordelia smirked as she looked at Gunn and back to the hallway.

"Thank you Dennis. And Goodnight." She yelled out to him sweetly as she allowed Gunn to carry her back to the room. Once they reached the door, the ghost blinked the lights twice before turning them off in reply. Gunn had to thank the ghost in the morning. Right now, he had to deal with something. Opening the door, he carefully laid Cordelia on the bed as he began to take off his shoes. She was in the process of doing the same.

"Is it safe to be doing this in your condition?" Gunn asked as he slid of his shirt. Cordelia had just taken off hers and motioned for Gunn to remove her bra.

"I'm pregnant Gunn not handicapped. Yes it's okay. Now hurry up already!"

"Just give me a sec Xena." Cordelia playfully did the Xena call Gunn had showed her in response causing him to burst out in laughter.

"Now that's a turn-on."

"Waiting."

"Coming."

"You better be." This was basically verbal foreplay and the two of them knew that once it started it wouldn't be long before they were changing the sheets. Grabbing the lubrication from the drawer Cordelia applied some to her and to Gunn as they stood in front of each other before getting back onto the bed. It had been ages since the two of them had had sex with this much passion. Maybe it was the hormones, maybe it was the stress, but whatever it was Gunn was sure that Cordelia was going to explode unless he did something.

"We so need this." Cordelia told him huskily as she allowed Gunn to flip on top of her and slowly work his way in.

"We do. Told you we still had the spark." She just nodded before wrapping her legs around him. Starting off slow he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and held her tight as he thrusted.

"Oh shit… why have you been depriving me of this?" She managed to get out as her eyes began to roll in the back of her head in pleasure. Gunn abruptly shut her up by taking her lips and moving down towards her neck. He could feel Cordelia and her usual deathgrip of an orgasm approaching so he slowed down his pace to intensify hers and keep him in the game.

Changing his position a few times, Gunn could feel himself tiring quickly. It was just as well because Cordelia had just come again and she was flushed red as tomato. Her head hit the pillow hard as she fell back to catch her breath. Thankful for the break Gunn slid out and laid beside her to gain control of himself.

"Whoever said that sex is bad isn't getting it good enough. Sex is bad when the guy's a douchebag or a demon. Trust me I know. Sex with you isn't. Not by a long shot." Cordelia sighed contently. Gunn chuckled.

"I'm not finished with you yet. We got about three weeks of stress to get rid of." With that he slapped her lightly on the ass as a sign that she needed to turn over. She shot him a look.

"Hold your horses will you? Let me catch my breath. Sheesh." Cordelia knew that Gunn loved taking her from behind and that was his way of telling her. She never knew how kinky of a girl she really was until she and Gunn had began to do it regularly. It amazed her how much she learned about herself just being with him. He made her feel sexy and confident like she already knew she was, but also was gentle with her like no one she had ever known and that was something a lot of men just couldn't do.

"Take your time Cordelia." He told her as he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before moving down and capturing her mouth once more. Rubbing his free hand on the outside of her lips he moved down to suck slowly on her nipples which were already hard and sore. His tongue felt good on them. She reached for his dick as she moaned.

"Oh my God Gunn."

"You ready now?"

"I'll assume the position anytime you're ready." She got out in a rush making him chuckle. He had to thank Angel everyday because without meeting him he wouldn't have met this crazy ass girl who drove him crazy.

"Major fucking turn-on." He told her as he helped Cordelia do just that. Sliding himself in he got into the familiar rhythm of slow strokes as Cordelia tried to sync up with him. His and Cordy's sex life was always pleasant but because it had been so long since they had wanted each other this bad Gunn made sure he let Cordelia know just how bad he wanted her.

"Don't pull my hair too hard. Just had it done a few days ago. You pull it too hard I'll kill you." Gunn nodded knowing full well that he had to earn Cordy's trust with that move. It wasn't until she found out how much it turned her on that she even allowed him to do it.

"Gotcha." With that he slowly grabbed a handful and picked up his pace. The sound of Cordelia's moans and their sweaty body's connecting were making Gunn go nuts.

"Damn." He managed to get out as he and Cordy found their rhythm and she was bucking him hard at his point.

"Yeah, no kidding. Slow down a little bit." She told him as he leaned down to cuff her body from behind and lifted her torso up grabbing her breasts. There wasn't any telling how long the two of them had been at it. Maybe 20-25 minutes but Gunn knew that he wasn't going to hold out too much longer. Especially the way she was grinding him for dear life.

"Ready for the big finish?" Gunn asked as he leaned her forward to where he could get the deepest penetration. Cordelia was already exhausted and ready. When he climaxed, it was always an intense one for her too.

"Green light." She told him as she held up a thumbs up. With that Gunn increased his speed and held Cordelia close to him as he finished before he collapsed on top of her. She was going to have to give him a minute but he didn't think she cared at this point anyway. After catching his breath he grabbed a towel and began to clean himself before passing another one to Cordelia. She gave him a look that screamed exhausted and completely done.

"You did this." She gestured to her hair which was in total disarray.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah I bet."

"I love you."

"Good choice of words." She told him as she enveloped him in which he returned tightly.

"Only being real. On that note, I'm going to go start the bath."

"Oh no you don't. I'll start the bath. You change the sheets. Meet you in the tub in 5 minutes." With that she kissed him quickly before grabbing her towel and heading to the bathroom. Gunn heard the sound of water running a few seconds later. Walking towards the bathroom to joke on her, Gunn peeked in only to see that she was on the toilet once again. Peeing. He couldn't wait until she got over that part of her pregnancy whenever that was.

"Close the damn door jackass!" She yelled at him as she threw the bubble bath bottle at him. He laughed to himself before shutting it quickly. Wow this woman was crazy. And he loved her ass for it. Tonight was exactly what the two of them needed and it succeeded in every way. Now, if only they could maintain it. With news of some bad business around the corner it looked like life was about to fuck them again with no lube. Grabbing the sheets from the bed and pulling out some fresh ones Gunn put them on the bed before taking the dirty ones to the laundry.

"She's like a keg of TNT Dennis, I swear…boom!" Gunn spoke outloud as Dennis turned on the light for him. A pad floated towards Gunn a few moments later. He read it outloud.

"Boom indeed. But could you two be a little quieter next time please? I'm dead not deaf." Gunn burst out laughing before throwing the linens into the washer and heading back toward the back to go have a bubble bath in the tub with his woman. If anybody could handle her ass, it was him. He had been proving it for three damn years.

Author's Note: Okay, that was my attempt to add some realism to their relationship. I love the vibe that the two of them give because they are so similar despite their differences. And honestly once you been with somebody it can get stale pretty quick if you don't maintain a few things. A good sex life with the one you're with being one of them. So, not much in terms of advancing the story here but I figured this was a way to show how well these two characters could actually interact with each other if they were in a long term relationship three years in. A freaking missed opportunity in my opinion but I digress. I have some ideas for this story and it might actually take a darker turn, an apocalypse on a more personal scale per se. I don't know, I think that makes for even better drama. Feedback is always encouraged and appreciated. Until next time Hell Yeah.


	6. Business as Usual

Group Therapy

Author's Note: Okay, I got some ideas floating around. I really want to get some kind of story arc going to build the drama. I just gotta figure a way to get it going but I'm thinking that I will take this for a dark turn later on, just to keep it interesting.I think that some drama will be a good parallel to our favorite couple's dealing with their own issues. And trust me, Cordy and Gunn are in for some drama and some other shit lol so I hope you all stick with me to the end. Here's the next one.

Chapter 6- Business as Usual

Friday

"Cordelia Chase." The nurse called from the door across the hall. Cordelia looked up from her magazine at the smiling nurse and returned a thankful one to her. Getting up so looked over to see Gunn knocked out with his Gameboy hanging loosely in his hands. Looking down she shook her head. The man didn't even turn it off.

"Gunn." Still no response. And she was in a room with atleast a dozen other women whose men were in similar position. Cordelia figured she wouldn't bring too much attention to them by pinching him on the arm as she leaned down to his ear.

"Gunn. Wake up." At that he slowly opened his eyes to see the knowing look on Cordy's face. It was self-explanatory. Get up or else.

"Doctor ready?" He asked groggily. She nodded in reply. Getting up slowly he rubbed his eyes as he went to follow her to the back. He didn't know what to expect but looking at all of the pregnant chicks in the lobby pretty much brought everything home to him. This was really happening.

"Hi Ms. Chase, I'm Dr. Ramirez. And this must be the father to be I presume? You two excited?" Cordelia smiled politely. Gunn just nodded.

"Scared is more like it. This was very unexpected." She answered. Gunn gave her a look. No shit. Dr. Ramirez smiled back warmly.

"Isn't it always? I read on your file about some medications you were taking interfering with your contraception? Are you still taking either of them?"

As Cordelia began to answer the various questions, Gunn zoned them out and looked around the room at all of the stuff. There was a model of the female anatomy, some pictures, and a lot books. But what got his attention was the picture of her family sitting on the desk. She had a husband and three kids and a dog. Perfect family complete with the white picket fence. It was actually pretty nice. Too calm and domestic for him and Cordelia but definitely something to dream about when they got older. Wow. Now that was thought. He was referring to the two of them as long term. But like the mama, this kid was definitely changing him and they weren't even here yet.

"How long will it be until we'll know if it's a boy or a girl?" Cordelia asked waking Gunn from his thoughts. How long was he out?

"As of right now I think you're only 9 weeks. You still have about another month or so before we can determine gender. However, we're going to listen for the heartbeat today. You have any questions before I set you up with the technician?" Gunn raised his hand slightly.

"Yeah. When exactly does she start to ease up on the hormones?" Cordelia narrowed her eyes at him causing the doctor to laugh herself. This had to be a normal thing between the two of them.

"You don't have to answer that." Cordelia told her as she kicked Gunn in the shin.

"You wouldn't believe how many men have asked me that same question. It's fine. Cordelia is actually almost done with her first trimester. Her symptoms should start to subside somewhat in terms of mood swings and things of that nature. However you can expect her to start experience more back problems and more frequent urinating as the fetus begans to grow and you gain more weight. I advise that you maintain am iron and calcium rich diet and plenty of exercise for the duration of your pregnancy."

"Does sex count?" Cordelia asked suddenly this time making Gunn's mouth drop. He never expected her to actually ask that although this was Cordelia; he should have known better. Wasn't that what all of the baby books were for?

"Yes, intercourse is actually encouraged. Just be mindful you may have to make a few adaptations. Do you get plenty of physical activity during the day ; perhaps at your job maybe?" Dr. Ramirez asked as she began to mark her files. Cordelia and Gunn looked at each other. Gunn just shrugged.

"Well, the majority of the time I'm in the office but on a few occasions I go out and participate in some field cases." Cordelia answered with a smirk.

"What do you do?" Cordelia looked at Gunn and grinned harder.

"We're private investigators."

"And we do a little exterminating too."Gunn added helpfully. nodded.

"So you two work together as well? Is that how you met?"

"More or have a mutual friend." Cordelia replied. Leaving it at that, the doctor gave them a quick smile before opening the door and ushering them into the lab to set up for Cordelia's ultrasound. The lab tech greeted them with a warm smile.

"Hi, I'm Christina. If you two are here to see me, then you must have just gotten some good news. You excited?" She asked as she finished preparing the table. Cordelia nodded. She was a little more comfortable with this chick than Dr. Ramirez.

"Yeah I am. Once you get over the initial "Oh my God is this really happening, I'm going to kill him" part", she added for emphasis. Gunn just continued to look around the room. It looked like one of those experimental rooms in some underground bunker or something. Real X-files type shit. Christina chuckled as she nodded herself while helping Cordelia onto the table and applying the jelly to her abdomen.

"Yeah, I hear that. I was the same way when I had my firstborn. My husband was even more freaked than I was. Okay Mr. Chase, if you could step over this way." She asked politely as she ushered him to the other side of the table to get out of the way. Gunn shot her a WTF look.

"It's Gunn. Two's N's." He corrected.

"Oh I'm sorry. It's just that according to the file it says Cordelia Chase. Isn't Mr. Gunn your husband?"

"We aren't married." Cordelia told her in a rush. Well damn she could have atleast sounded somewhat disappointed, Gunn thought to himself. Cordelia caught Gunn's expression and grinned at Christina.

"Yet. We aren't married yet. I'm sure it'll be Chase-Gunn eventually." She amended. She had noticed his put off look and didn't want Gunn to get the wrong idea about what she wanted in the future. By all means she was ready to spend possibly the rest of her life, however long that may be considering being friends with Angel, with Gunn by her side. But marriage was something that she wasn't quite ready to talk about yet. She and Gunn rarely brought it up but when they did they just continued to push the topic down the line.

Listening to her stethoscope, Christina looked up and smiled at the couple. Placing a few wires to Cordelia's abdomen, she flipped a switch and soon an ominous bumping noise echoed across the room.

"That's your baby's heart beating. From the looks of it, it sounds perfectly fine. It's important that we continue to monitor this every check up in case of complications. You two have any questions?" Christina asked as she began to do her write-up. Cordelia shook her head and looked at Gunn. He was speechless.

"Hello Earth to Gunn? You in there?" She asked as she rubbed his knuckles. He just looked down at her.

"That's our child's heart beat. I'm just kinda floored right now." He admitted as he pulled up a chair to sit next to her. Cordelia shot him a warm smile.

"And you didn't have to get beat half to death by a big nasty so that's a good thing. I wish the others could have been here to hear this." She managed to get out before she wiped away some escaping tears. Gunn grasped her hand firmly for comfort.

"Didn't think I'd have to do this again? After Darla I thought we were done with the pregnant chicks?"

"And what if I had found some other guy to be with and I decided to start a family? Were you going to going to be done with me too?" Cordelia asked playfully. Gunn shot her a smirk.

"That wouldn't have happened. I've heard about your past boyfriends. They either tend to up dead, kidnapped, heartbroken, or all of the above."

"So what makes you any different?" She challenged as she smiled at Gunn rubbing his finger across her arm. She could think of several reasons but she wanted to hear some from him.

"Well for starters I'm not from Sunnydale." He started. She snorted quietly to herself.

"I'll give you that one. What else?"

"I can show you a good time like no one else."

"That's kind of how we got into the situation we're in now."

"And…I get you." Gunn finished.

"What do you mean 'You get me'?" She asked curiously. Of course he got her. He's had her for a while now.

"I don't know I just do."

"Real smooth dumbass."

"Maybe."

"I'm gonna cry." Cordelia told him as she began to sob. Gunn looked at her wearily for a second before putting an arm around her. A lot can definitely change in the span of 6 years. For one thing he never thought for a second he'd live that long, let alone have a great girl and a kid on the way. It was weird, that something as normal as this was even more terrifying than the stuff that he did day in and day out. And looking at Cordelia sobbing tears of joy right now was kind of scary.

"It's okay baby. It's okay." He whispered softly as he continued to stroke her. She sniffled as she nodded.

"I know. I'm just overwhelmed. I think I need some comfort shopping."

"Whatever you want Barbie."

Christine walked back in the room a few seconds later. Gunn hadn't even noticed she had left.

"Everything looks good on this end. Dr. Ramirez is going to schedule you for another visit in a few weeks. I'll see you then." She told them before looking at her concernly. She had noticed the tears.

"Are you alright? I have some tissues." She asked as she grabbed a box and handed her one. Gunn nodded to her gratefully. Cordelia thanked her.

"I'm an emotional wreck. But I'm fine. I really am." Squeezing Gunn's hand she gave them both an assured smile. Her baby was fine and her man was going to buy her some new shoes so everything was good in her book.

Later that afternoon

After giving Cordelia what she wanted, buying her a few new pairs of shoes, she and Gunn went to the Hyperion to share the good news. Although Wesley had given them the day off, they really didn't have anything else to do. Gunn was bored and Cordelia didn't want to sit around the house all day so she figured why not gossip with Fred and sit around here. The two of them were engaged in the usual conversation about Gunn and Wesley and how they managed to put up with them respectively. Angel and the guys were playing fixer-uppers downstairs in the basement. Something had gone out down there. The sound of the door got Cordelia's attention.

"Hey nice digs. This is Angel Investigations ain't it?" The mystery client asked as he made his way into the lobby. He would have looked like a cute, normal guy had it not been for the whole 1920's getup complete with the hat and trenchcoat and the scales on the tail that was hanging loosely from the back of said trenchcoat. Oh, and he was blue green. Demon/Human hybrids. Couldn't get enough of them. Cordelia was about to get up to greet him but Fred lightly sat her back down.

"Yes it is. I'm Fred and this is Cordelia. How may we help you?"

"I need help doll." Cordelia kept her eyes focused on his tail. He looked like a sneaky fellow.

"We can do that." Fred told him slowly not knowing quite what to make of him. "What's the problem?"

"See, I kinda did a job for some guys I ain't had any business doing for since I work for some other guys and I'm probably the most famous walking corpse this side of the San Andreas. I need this to go away. Pronto." Fred stared at him blankly for a second.

"Okay?" Cordelia got up and walked to the basement door and yelled downstairs.

"Angel! You got a suspicious client with a tail in a trenchcoat upstairs!"

"What is your name sir?" Fred asked politely as she pulled out her message pad and began to take his information.

"Bugsy. Just Bugsy."

"Like Bugsy Seigel?" Fred asked incredulously as she shot the man a look. He grinned at her , talk about stuck in the past.

"Yeah like Bugsy Seigel. Only better looking. Hey after this is all over, you wanna get a drink doll?" Fred rolled her eyes slightly at this wannabe demon gangster from the 1920's. She thought she had seen it all in Pylea. There were a lot more weird things happening right here in good old Los Angeles.

"Uh no thanks. My boyfriend wouldn't like that much. Oh there he is now." With that she quickly grabbed the pad and made her way over to Wesley, who was following Angel. Angel had Connor in his arms, dirt all over his face. Apparently he was showing him the ropes. Gunn and Wesley were next to him. Cordelia took a seat on one of the couches. This should be interesting.

"Daddy look, he's got a tail. See?" Connor yelled out as he pointed down. Angel noticed and smiled.

"I see Connor. Go sit with Cordelia while Daddy talks with his client okay?"

"Okay." With that he sat Connor down and held his hand out.

"Angel."

"Bugsy."

"Like Bugsy Seigel?"

"Yeah. Only better looking." Angel turned to look at Gunn and Wesley. Gunn just shrugged. Shit was bugging him out too. Wesley stepped up to greet him.

"Wesley Wyndam-Price. Would you like to discuss the matter in a more private setting? I have an office just this way."

"Yeah sure." Bugsy told him as he turned to follow Wesley. But not before giving Fred a sly look and using his tail to pull something from his coat. He used it to slide something towards Fred without Wesley seeing it. Gunn's eyes bulged. What. The. Hell. Fred bent down to pick it up.

"576-2974. Bugsy. Call me doll?" She read aloud. Gunn walked over to read it himself and chuckled.

"Looks like you made a new friend Fred."

"Shut up Charles." She told him icily.

"Okay, retract the claws. Cordy, you ready to go?" He turned to see that Cordelia had fallen asleep. Connor put a finger to his lips.

"Ssh. Aunt Cordy is sleeping." Fred played along and mimicked zipping her lips shut. Gunn walked over and kneeled down next to him.

"You wanna play Ninja Turtles squirt?" Connor nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright go ahead and warm it up." Gunn told him referring to the Playstation 2. Everyone of them bonded with Connor differently. Angel was daddy, Wesley was the uncle that filled in the daddy role when Angel couldn't, i.e go out into the sun, Fred and Cordelia alternated the Aunt/Mother role and he was the cool uncle/older brother figure that would play video games with and him and probably teach him about women and all of that down the line. Gunn knew Angel had his own daddy issues from when he was alive so he probably wasn't the best role model for that. Hell none of them were but out of him and Wesley, Gunn figured he was the most stable. Wesley's dad was an ass too. And his dad well…he wasn't around by the time he needed one.

30 minutes had gone by and Angel and Wes were still with that Bugsy guy. Fred was doing the research thing and Cordelia was still asleep. Connor's voice got Gunn's attention.

"Gunn, Aunt Cordy's going to be a mommy right?"

"Yeah kid." Connor stopped playing and looked up at him.

"Do you have a mommy?" He asked. It was so innocent Gunn couldn't believe he was even asking the question at this age. But Connor was already as strong as a 10 year old boy at 3, he must have been smarter than the average toddler as well.

"I did. My mother's dead."

"Like my mommy."

"Yeah." Gunn told him honestly. He wasn't going to lie to the boy. That wasn't going to help him. But he figured Angel had given him just enough to shut him up about Darla. He didn't go into detail.

"Why do you ask Connor?"

"I see other kids with mommies and daddies why I go to the park with Aunt Fred and Wesley. They don't have aunts and uncles like me."

"No?"

"Uh Uh."

"Guess that makes us cooler than them then huh?" Gunn told him with a playful rub of his head. Connor smiled back and nodded.

"Uh huh." Gunn nodded as well.

"Don't worry about it kid. You got a daddy and you got your aunts and uncles too. You don't have to have a mommy. Just know that you had one and she loved you very much. Okay?"

"Okay." With that the conversation was apparently over because Connor had picked up the controller and had resumed the game. Gunn continued to play as well, happy that he was able to have the one on one with Connor. He didn't notice Cordelia's smile spread across her face before she went back to closing her eyes. She had a good man. And she was thankful that he was going to be the father of her child. He was good for Connor to talk to when Angel couldn't and Connor was good for him too.

After a few more minutes Angel and Wesley shook hands with Bugsy and escorted him out of the lobby. Cordelia woke up and went to see what the hell just happened.

"Okay spill." Angel looked at Cordelia strangely as she pointed her finger in his face. Okay? Did he miss something?

"Spill what?"

"Why are we helping the demon guy who escaped from the Prohibition exhibit downtown?" She asked tactlessly to Angel. Wesley interjected.

"He needed our help Cordelia."

"He looks sneaky. I mean the Dick Tracy get up isn't the least bit suspicious to you Wesley?" Gunn snickered. He was surprised Cordelia even knew who Dick Tracey was. Wesley sighed.

"Even if he is rather suspicious I can't refuse him if he truly needs help." Cordelia snorted. That was bullshit. They could refuse anybody they wanted. Especially if they didn't pay up.

"Bullshit."

"Cordelia, young ears." Fred pointed out as she motioned over to Connor.

"Sorry."

"He paid us three grand upfront." Angel added as he pulled out a check. It was in fact written out to AI for 3000 dollars. "He really wants this to go away." Gunn looked at the check. Cordelia abruptly shut up and looked at it herself.

"Oh."

"I'd say so. Damn. So what are we doing?" He asked Angel as he slowly put his arm around Cordelia's waist. She said nothing but moved closer to him. Wesley continued.

"There's a club on Rochester that operates as a front for one of Bugsy's bosses. Apparently Bugsy was an inside man for the robbery/massacre that took place there a few days ago. The news covered it up as a fire since the remains had been burned, but seemingly forgetting to also say there were gunshot and stabbing wounds along with some demon remains. Bugsy said it wasn't an accident which suggests that this organization may have compromised the police department as well. So basically his boss traced it back to him and the ones that offered him the job intended to kill him anyway."

"So what does that have to do with us? We helping a criminal get away?" Gunn asked as he crossed his arms. Angel shook his head. He knew what Gunn was thinking. Only Gunn didn't have the whole story.

"I know what you're thinking Gunn and normally I'd agree. But Bugsy mentioned the name of the employer that offered him the job. A man named Salum." Gunn's eyebrow perked up.

"Ah, Salum as in the Syndicate, those bastards Lilah was talking about. I thought he already had like half of L.A on lock?"

"Apparently Lilah left out some key information for whatever reason. There must be more to this whole situation than just a take over on organized crime. We took Bugsy's case to find some information and possibly discover an ulterior motive." Fred walked up to Wesley and handed him the card Bugsy had left her. She grinned at him.

"Bugsy gave me this. He was trying to hit on me earlier." Wesley looked at her and smirked.

"That explains the crude jokes at my expense earlier. This may come in handy."

"I thought so." Fred grinned back. Their moment was cut short by Cordelia's gag.

"Oh god! Gunn move!" With that she almost pushed Gunn off of her and ran to the bathroom. Gunn laughed. Was this her way of saying how nauseating the two of them were? Looking back to Angel he cracked his knuckles.

"This case taking priority?"

"Not just yet, we have several clients at the moment. But we do need more info. I'm going to go see what I can get out of Lilah and whatever files Wolfram and Hart has on these guys. They're bigger players than Lilah let on. Hit the streets over the next couple of days and see if you can get anybody talking. Wesley's still working on Berrik case with the house possession. If not taken care of, it's going to slowly start affecting the family. That could take a while." Wesley nodded.

"Yes Gunn we have our hands full. Business is good which means that there's a lot going on out there. We'll take care of it. You need to focus on Cordelia over the next few months as well." With that Wesley put his hand on Gunn's shoulder and offered him a comforting smile. English was right. Work was work but Cordy was hopefully his future. She did have priority. Well, this shit was about to hit the fan now.

"I hear you English." And he did. He had a feeling that the next few months were going to be a whole lot more complicated than just Cordelia's pregnancy. And when he got that feeling, bad things tended to happen. Story of his life, what else was knew?


	7. Underneath the Surface

Group Therapy

Author's Note: As usual I don't own Angel or any of the characters. Things are starting to pick up a little so hopefully I can keep it interesting. Hope you all continue to stick with it. And hey, don't be shy, reviews are nice. Thanks. Enjoy.

Chapter 7- Underneath the Surface

Week 11- 2 Weeks Later

"Angel!" Cordelia yelled loudly as she put a hand to her throbbing forehead and sat down on the couch. The constant gurgling of her stomach and being bloated didn't help much either. She'd just had another vision that apparently had already taken place. This made for the 3rd time this week in addition to 6 times last week that she was receiving late visions, starting with what was probably a city councilman due to the report of a disappearance a few days later. And the thing was all of them had been brutally murdered, complete with big stab wounds or decapitated by some big nasty. The thing was she never got a chance to see what it was, just the leftovers. Gunn, Fred, and Wesley had gone out on a case. Gunn was muscle as usual and Fred was apparently the new Nurse Betty in town because Cordelia was here on Connor Duty while Angel was brooding upstairs after she had cussed him out earlier to leave her alone. He was being a grumpy ass vampire today and after her vision she really didn't want to hear it.

"You had a vision Aunt Cordy?" Connor asked as he immediately stopping playing with his sword and ran to grab Cordelia's bottle water and pills from the table but pushing the chair over to where he stand on it to reach them. Connor was extremely smart. She couldn't wait until he started school. Even superhuman kids would have to go to school right?

"Yes, thank you sweetie." She told him with a smile as she downed her pills. Thank those Kai Dynasty guys and their mojo. This ring was doing wonders in terms of the visions not hurting or killing her for that matter. Angel came running down the stairs seconds later fearing something was wrong.

"Where's Connor?" He asked suddenly not seeing the boy was on the other side of Cordelia. She rolled her eyes.

"Gee nice to know you care. He's right here." She told him sarcastically as she moved over for Connor to show himself. Angel flashed her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. What's wrong Cordelia? Vision?"

"Of the late variety. It's already happened. Probably last night, not sure. A guy, black male, tall, mean looking covered in tattoos and very dead. Looks like it took place around a basketball court in some neighborhood. Not the kind you want to get caught in after dark either. Kinda looks some neighborhoods around Gunn's old place though. I've past them a few times when I've gone looking for him. He always warns me not to stop at the light if I can help it." Angel nodded. He'd been in there many times before. There were many neighborhoods like that in Gunn's area so he didn't exactly know where to start.

"For good reason. Get online and see if you can find any matching descriptions in the news of violent crimes similar to the ones in your vision. I don't recall seeing any of them on the news but then again this is L.A. The city's known for cover ups. Maybe the Powers are trying to tell us something. A pattern maybe?" Angel guessed. Cordelia looked skeptical.

"But why send me after shows instead of the normal premonitions to prevent them. This seems kind of odd. It could be Lilah sending me fake visions again." Angel's eyes narrowed at the sound of Lilah's name. He had told her years ago that if she came at him through Cordelia again he was going kill her. And he meant it. Still he didn't know that for sure yet. And the fact that he was thinking about the snake of a woman didn't make him feel any better about it.

"We don't know if that's the case yet? Get in touch with Wes and tell him about your vision. I'm going out." With that he picked up Connor from the couch and playfully held him above his head. Cordelia looked at him before looking outside.

"Uh Angel, sun's out. Exactly how are do plan on checking it out without being charbroiled?"

"If Lilah's behind the visions, I'm going to find out. Don't worry about it. Daddy's going out on a case. Can you be a good boy and take care of you Aunt Cordy okay?" As usual, Connor proved once again he was a daddy's boy. And there was nothing Angel could do about it. Cordelia gave her friend another skeptical look but decided against calling him out on it. Angel seemed just a little too ready to go interrogate Lilah these days. It was weird. But she didn't think much more of it so she let the thought leave as soon as it had arrived.

"Okay Daddy. Can we play heroes when you get back?"

"Sure son. You want anything while I'm out Cordelia?" Angel asked her as he noticed her holding her side. The dull aches were normal the doctor had told her and Gunn on their last visit. She was almost into her second trimester and soon they would be able to see the child for the first time. She would also start to feel better too she said. But she wasn't quite there yet and she felt like crap right now.

"Tums. And a Cosmopolitan." Angel gave her a knowing look.

"Aren't you pregnant?"

"Not the drink dumbass the magazine. Denise Richards is on the front cover."

"Who's Denise Richards?" Cordelia groaned before sighing deeply. Damn Angel and his lack of common sense or social abilities. Where in the hell was Gunn when she needed him? At least he knew his pop culture even if he was a closet geek.

"Oh my God, just ask for a Cosmo Angel. They'll know what you mean. Okay, go, shoo, find bad guys." She told him hurriedly as she stood up and ushered him to his coat on the rack and into the basement. Turning back she saw Connor had gone back to playing with his sword. Here she was alone in the hotel with a 3 year old, bored and pregnant. Great. Pulling out here cell phone, she found Gunn's number on the speed dial and proceeded to text him hoping it wouldn't get him killed in the process.

Meanwhile

Thrapp!

The sound of Wesley being slapped across the room did not bode well for Gunn and Fred as they watched the Brach Demon began to stomp closer towards them. One of their clients had come to them claiming a demon had come to intimidate him into selling his shop to some shady people a few days ago. When he refused they came back later with some big nasty called a Brach Demon according to Wesley and he was tearing the place to pieces. Wesley came with the intent he might be able to compromise with the shady man or take him out if need be. Of course when they got the call, Gunn figured it'd be an easy put down. Yeah right.

"Okay now was that supposed to happen?" One of the bar employee asked as he hid behind the bar looking over to Gunn and Fred who were behind the table. Fred gave him a look of daggers. It made Gunn a little uneasy.

"What are we going to do Charles?" She asked as she began to go through her bag in search of some healing items. Gunn looked around and surveyed the scene. Damn he wished he had brought his axe but Wesley said to leave the weapons in the truck so they wouldn't be perceived as a threat. The shady guy in question was a Mason Reed, some half-human, half demon guy with a bad ass 2 piece suit from Santa Ana that apparently had some big name friends in the area. He wasn't the negotiating type either.

"Yeah Charles, what are you going to do? We're going to take over this establishment one way or the other. Until signs over this deed, you can expect my pal here to renovate and possible send some more of you's to the hospital. Or the morgue, whatever." Guess he had excellent hearing too.

"This is a family business. I'll be damned if I let you lowlifes have it." Piazzi spat back at him as he held his head to try and stop the stream of blood pouring from his temple. Gunn shook his head trying to think. He motioned for Fred to move over towards Wesley and try to help him. She nodded and started on her way.

"Is that a promise?" Reed taunted as he snapped his fingers and sent the brute over to pick Piazzi up from the debris. Gunn figured he better do something quick to stall him while Fred went to revive Wesley. Getting up he picked a table leg lying around on the ground. This probably wasn't a very good idea.

"I really don't like to be called Charles bro. Name's Gunn, two N's." Reed looked over to him and smirked. This guy had a lot of balls. He didn't really know who he was dealing with did he?

"My bad Chuck. You gonna try and negotiate like your pal over there with the nerdy broad?" He taunted as he flicked his wrist over to where Wes and Fred were. She narrowed her eyes at him but proceeded to tend to her boyfriend.

"I really don't like him." She muttered to herself as she began to try and revive Wesley.

"Nah, I'm no good at that. Mixing it up is more of my thing. But I guess I can play messenger today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, tell whoever sent you that they sent the wrong lackey to do their dirty work." At that Reed's smirk left his face and was replaced with a scowl. Snapping his fingers, he commanded the brute demon to drop his captive and make his way towards Gunn. Hmm, that was interesting. He seemed to be under the influence of some kind of hypnosis. The question was, could it be broken? Grunting loudly, the Brach Demon swung at Gunn forcefully. Dodging the blow, Gunn tried to move behind him and attack him with the table leg. Making contact with his back the leg shattered into pieces on impact. What the hell was this guy made of? Quickly looking for something else he grabbed a pool stick.

The demon just looked at him as if he was asking to himself 'are you serious?'.

"Wake up Wes! Fred!" Gunn asked as he dodged yet another blow.

"I'm trying Charles! He's beat up pretty bad." Great, English was unconscious and he going toe to with some brute that looked like Koopa from Mario. Let's hope he didn't breathe fire.

"Enough theatrics. Kill him." Mason Reed told the brute snidely before grabbed Mr. Piazzi by the neck and put a gun to his head.

"Whether you sign or not, we are taking this building. But I'd rather not get blood on my suit. It cost more than you'll ever make in a year." Piazzi spit in his face.

"Fuck you." Sighing deeply Reed took the safety off the pistol. The hard way it is. He really didn't want to mess up his suit.

"Oh well." As he proceeded on to kill the manager, Gunn hurled the pool stick at him hitting him in the stomach, giving Piazzi time to get out of harm's way and punch the hell out of him. Gunn's rescue was short lived however because seconds later he felt something hard hit him in the back of the head and everything got dim.

"Shit." He muttered to himself as he began to lose consciousness. How could he forget about Koopa? He was going to have to get checked out for multiple concussions before this was all over. After that, everything went black.

Waking up, he noticed the throbbing of his head and the fact that he was lying on a table in some backroom. The last thing he remembered was being sucker punched and knocked out by the Koopa/Thing. A beep ranged from his pocket and he pulled out his phone. New Message. It was from Cordy.

'Had a vision, Angel went to check it out. Bored as hell.'

Gunn smiled at the text despite the fact he apparently missed out on something big. Shaking off the throbbing he proceeded to text Cordelia back.

'Sorry I missed your text. Busy with the being knocked out. Gotta find Fred and Wes.' After sending it he received one back few seconds later. Damn the girl could text fast. She was a beast.

'Shit are you okay?'

'Yeah. Bout to go find them. Call you on the way back.'

'Okay. Love you. – CC'

After reading her last message he smiled to him and proceeded to go investigate to scene and the wreckage that used to be a bar. It didn't take long for Gunn to find Wesley and Fred helping members of the bar cleaning up.

"Charles!" Fred shouted at him as he came from the hall. Gunn smiled weakly as he stepped over the debris.

"What happened?"

"Reed escaped. He left the Brach Demon to finish us off. We disposed of it." Wesley clarified as he walked up to greet him as well. Gunn was dumbfounded. How could you stop something like that? Wes had the shiner on his left eye to prove it. They were truly brothers in arms.

"How?"

"Wesley knew that Brach Demons need to be controlled. They are untamable if left to their own devices. Reed was using a talisman to do this. He broke the talisman and made his escape in order for the Brach Demon to kill us. I saw that he had dropped his pistol and I shot it a few times. Its head was the weak spot." Wow, guess that Fred and Wes's gun range dates came in handy after all.

"I know that couldn't have been how it ended. That guy was built like the Thing from the Fantastic Four." Gunn said shaking his head. Wesley grinned.

"No, I went to your truck to retrieve the weapons and decapitated it. The gunshot wounds did help to slow it down due to loss of blood. Afterwards we talked with Mr. Piazzi about the deal and offered to help clean up. He's going to keep in touch with me about anymore potential deals or situations that develop. I suspect that the Syndicate Lilah was referring to may be involved somehow." Gunn nodded as he looked over to see something covered in table cloths which he could only assume was the demon.

"Let me guess, we gotta get rid of that thing?"

"Yes."

"I swear English. Damn." Gunn told him as he shook his head once more and proceeded to help clean up.

"Ms. Morgan, there's somewhere here to see you."

Lilah shot the security guard a pissed off look. She was going over some new acquisition accounts they needed to meet deadline. Not to mention she had a dinner with some important clients she had to get ready for. The ball had finally started rolling and she needed to make sure things kept going. The Senior Partners had made it clear they were pleased with the progress she was making and allowed her to continue as she saw fit for the time being.

"Davidson, this better be worth my time. I have no problems severing you or any of your limbs from this company." Davidson had sweat pouring down the side of his face and motioned his eyes over to his side. Lilah just sighed. Damn it.

"Shit. Let him in." With that, Davidson moved aside and Angel appeared next to him complete in vampface, the security guards own stake pointed into his back. He slowly put it down and pushed him aside before closing the door and locking it. Lilah rolled her eyes. Fucking new hires weren't worth anything.

"To what do I owe this not too unexpected visit?"

"Cordelia's getting impaired visions. Something's interfering with them. Last time her visions were affected, you were behind them."

"And I should care because?"

"I don't have time for this Lilah. Are you behind them or know who is?" Lilah smirked the same evil smirk she always did. And it told Angel wonders.

"You're not." She just stared at him.

"Sounds like you've got a problem hero. Have you ever noticed that you have no problem getting yourself into my office? Doesn't that seem a bit odd?"

"I'm very driven." Angel replied with a fake, dry smile. Lilah shook her head.

"I'm driven, you're naïve. We've been doing this dance for what, seven years almost. And not once has the though ever crossed your mind that you enjoy this?" Lilah taunted as she mocked him. Angel slipped from vampface back into his normal profile before suddenly moving to the other side of the room and grabbing Lilah forcefully by the shoulder.

"I take it that you do?" Lilah turned her head slightly to see that he was awaiting her reaction. What did the vampire really want? She thought she had an idea.

"You and me Angel, we're not as different as you think we are. Unlike those planeteers you parade around with, you don't have to lie to me. I know you despise me and the feeling is mutual. But it's how you truly feel, not some façade you put on in the name of redemption. Why do you come in here and kick down my door every time you get a draft in you whiskers? Because you know I won't lie to you. Leave out info, yeah but never lie. So get off your do gooder power trip and tell me why you're really here?" Angel could smell the lust radiating from her due to the closeness. It was almost overwhelming. But not just that. It was the fact that Lilah had a point in a twisted way. It had taken Angel decades to control his ever-present vampiric nature, even with a soul. There were times when it was next to unbearable. And he loved his friends and more importantly his son. But the urge was always there. Dulled but not absent. Not wanting to dwell on the reality of her statement he focused his attention back on the woman.

"What do you know about Cordy's visions?" He asked again.

"Not a damn thing." She bit back viciously. Angel searched her hardened features for any kind of give away. He found none and slowly let go of her. She stretched her neck a bit.

"You done here?" She asked as she gave him a look of irritation and smugness. She knew she had gotten under his skin.

"Not until you tell me what's behind Cordelia's vision impairment."

"I already told you. I don't know." She articulated to him. She was trying her damndest to keep her arousal hidden but it wasn't working. Whatever it was about the damn vampire it spoke to her sexual urge. Maybe it was the fact that she hated him so much. He represented ever failure she had ever committed. But he was also her greatest challenge. And part of her knew that she could take him. He was attracted to her and he couldn't understand why. She could use that.

Angel bored holes into her, all the while reiterating the fact that he was here for Cordelia. Actually his body was telling him otherwise. And as much as he hated thinking it, the vampire was a bit jealous. His friends had found love and companionship in each other and they even had the ability to do things he couldn't even do with his own son. And it hurt. Angel couldn't even find solace in a souled Darla because it wasn't truly her. It was a lie. A façade. The real Darla was incapable of love. Apparently so was he. Deep down, he'd always know that the soul kept him in check. Angel was originally a forced choice because of the soul, the feelings of remorse for what he had done was unbearable, but Angelus was his true nature. He had just learned to accept it as his new persona and he was grateful because it allowed him to love and be loved. Something he truly could not have as Angelus. But for the last few times he'd seen Lilah, he'd been thinking about what she said. Even having dreams about it. She really did accept him as he really was and they were very similar. They were both damned.

"You having another one of your epiphanies?" Lilah taunted as she noticed Angel seemingly battling within himself. This was interesting. Before she could catch his reaction, he had jumped at her and thrown her desk aside. The smell of arousal and fear worked its way up his nostrils and it was intoxicating. Leaning in he pushed Lilah down as she tried to reach for the stake Angel had taken from Davidson. Angel knocked it out of her way.

"This is the last time I'm going to ask you. What's behind Cordelia's visions going out of sync?" He told her in all seriousness. He wasn't going to let this bitch plant seeds of doubt into his mind. His friends mattered more. Lilah saw the resolve in the vampires eyes and knew he was dead serious.

"I don't know." She managed to choke out.

"But I know where you can find out." She squeaked out a second later. Letting go of her she grabbed her neck and rubbed it. She couldn't believe she'd gotten him to go as far as choking her. He had never been that forceful with her. Maybe things were looking up. This wasn't Angelus this was Angel. And even if the whole choking thing was a bit uncomfortable, in a way it turned her on. Being thrown around like that.

"Where?" Angel asked curtly. Picking up a pen and paper Lilah scribbled a name and an address and handed it to him. Snatching it Angel read over it before giving Lilah another look.

"You better not be shitting me Lilah."

"Fuck you. It's real. Ask for Will Heron. He's one of our freelance contractors. He can sense mystical links. He'll tell you whatever you need to know. Now since we're doing each other all kinds of favors, I need you to do one for me." Lilah threw back at him.

"No."

"The hell you won't. Meet me here tonight at 10. Alone."

"No."

"You want information some inside info on these big hats don't you? You'll meet me here at ten. I'm having dinner with some of Salum's other associates tonight. He has some loose cannons that I'd rather not have as business partners but getting my hands wet looks bad for business. You want in on this, you be here at 10."

"Why would you want me to help undermine the same man you're doing business with? That sounds counterproductive." Angel queried. Lilah smirked back.

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Wolfram and Hart is interested in the Salum family and their very useful soul and willpower extraction abilities. The Syndicate they run is just another tool. We want Salum to work for us, not with us. But he's a prideful son of a bitch and doesn't want to dissolve what he spent decades trying to build and he has to make the choice for the contract to stick. So I don't mind giving you any information in order to dissolve his empire. Isn't that what this whole thing is all about? Stop the circle, you stop the shit going on in the streets, you get to save the day and we acquire a new asset. Everybody wins."

Angel looked her. Lilah didn't flinch. She was going use this situation to her advantage. Angel knew this. He knew going along with it was a bad idea. Giving her one last hard look he walked past her, opened the door, and stormed the hell out. After she was sure he was gone, she let go the breath she was holding. Damn, that was easy. She was going to conquer Angel. And this didn't have shit to do with Wolfram and Hart or any of her clients. Wolfram and Hart would benefit and it would solidify her career but the motivation behind it was all her. Angel might have had the ball but this game was played on her court.

Later at the Hyperion

"Okay let me get this straight. You three killed something that looked like that ugly thing from Super Mario Bros. and you got directions from Lilah to go talk to some guy that just so conveniently happens to have the ability sense mystical channels?" Cordelia reiterated in confusion as she sat on the couch holding the Mommy Book she was reading in her hand. Fred and Wes looked up from their subs they were eating with blank looks. Gunn just gave her a knowing glance and Angel rubbed the back of his neck. Cordelia's head creeked to the side.

"Huh?"

"That sounds the gist of it Cordelia." Wesley clarified for her.

"Oh that's it. From now on, I gotta go out on a case with atleast one of you. I love Connor sitting as much as the next auntie but sitting alone in the hotel all day isn't gonna cut it." She said as she pointed her finger at Angel.

"What are you pointing at me for?" He asked. Gunn smirked noticing he'd been brooding the whole afternoon after he got back from wherever he was.

"You're the one that left her here."

"She had a vision."

"And?"

"Shut up Gunn."

Before the two of them could get into anymore bickering Wesley interrupted the two of them.

"When should we go seek out this mystic Angel? We need to get to the bottom of what's going on with Cordelia? We could be missing out on vital information from the Powers."

"Tommorow. I have to meet Lilah tonight. She wants to make an arrangement."

"What kind of arrangement?" Wesley asked curiously. Something didn't quite sit right with him about this. Angel caught on to the look.

"She wants to make a deal. She offered to give us some information on Salum if we knock off a few of his associates."

"Why the hell would she want to do that?" Gunn asked not a second later.

"The deal is between Salum and Wolfram and Hart. They only want him and his family for their unique extraction abilities, not the rest of his syndicate bosses. Lilah doesn't want to have them involved, doesn't want to waste the companies resources on them. She said that she's willing to aid us in helping dissolve his empire so they can acquire him. But Wolfram and Hart can't take them out or they risk compromising the deal."

"So you want to willingly help Wolfram and Hart? Nothing good could come of that." Wesley shouted back incredulously.

"I know. But we need a lead. We know next to nothing on this Salum and we've been up to our neck in cases. It's getting bad out there Wes. You've seen the news. The city's getting overrun. Demons, humans, mystics, you name it, they're in with this syndicate. We need some answers." Wesley just stared. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You can't be serious." Cordelia looked at Angel's face. He had that look before. Chasing after Darla. He was on a one track mission and that was usually a bad thing. She didn't want to have to deal with this again and she was going to let it be known.

"He's serious. What are you doing Angel? Why are you even considering this? She tried to kill you, us, and your son for goodness sakes! Why the hell would you want to help Lilah?" She shrieked at him as she waved her hands up at him.

"I'm going to meet her tonight. She might play for the other side but she is honest. She'll deliver. I'll get what I need to know and we'll use it to help. Like we always do. Just trust me Cordelia. I'm going to put Connor to bed." With that the vampire picked up a sleeping Connor from the couch and carried him upstairs to put to bed. Fred spoke for the first time in a few minutes.

"I'm worried about Angel. He seems a little off doesn't he?"

"Yeah, we've seen this movie before! It doesn't end well. If he wants to go meet up with the lawyer bitch I say let him! I'm done trying to talk sense into broody, stubborn-ass vampires who can't decide whether to fight evil lawyers or sleep with them!" Cordelia scoffed as she threw her book down and leaned back against Gunn's arm. Gunn looked at Wesley who had remained silent. Cordelia venting was nothing knew but she did have a point. He hoped Angel wasn't falling back to bad habits too.

"What you think Wes?" Wesley just sighed before straightening his glasses.

"Let him do as he pleases. I'm not sure what's wrong with him but he hasn't given me any reason not to trust him yet. Until he does I say we let him be. Just watch him. He's done this before and we all remember how well that went." Jumping back up Cordelia started again on her tirade.

"You mean his Angelus-lite phase? As in firing us, indirectly murdering a room full of lawyers, and oh yeah let's not forget my personal favorite, sleeping with Darla's crazy ass in an attempt to lose himself. I think it's safe to say we remember it Wesley." She added sarcastically still obviously ticked off about the whole thing. Wesley rolled his eyes at her. Gunn knew exactly where she was coming from. He was going to watch him alright. If Angelus or Bad Angel wanted to make an appearance he was going to make sure that he would leave in a dustpan. It was even more personal now because Cordelia was pregnant. He wasn't about to let anything happen to her or that kid.

"Do you want me to stay here with you tonight Fred?" Wesley asked a few seconds later. He knew she was worried for Angel but she didn't want to be alone in the hotel with him in case something was wrong. And she would feel better knowing Wesley was there.

"Yes."

"Okay."

Gunn put a hand to his head. The throbbing of the bruise on the back of his head was coming back with a vengeance. Cordelia noticed it and smiled at him concernly. She wasn't going to ruin her night worrying about Angel being a dick. As pissed off as she was, she wouldn't be much help right now in her mood. She would talk to him sometime tomorrow. And if he didn't listen then, she was going to deliberately started scratching up every one of his Manilow cds Fred had gotten him last Christmas until he budged. Pushing aside her thoughts she turned her thoughts back to Gunn.

"You need some ice?" She asked as she slightly rubbed over the bruised area of his skull. He hissed at her touch.

"Yeah, thanks."

Getting up slowly she went over to the small freezer by her desk and put some ice cubes in a ziploc bag. Placing it on Gunn's head, she gave him a comforting smile.

"Better?"

"My Fair Cordelia, you still saving my life?" Cordelia grinned. He played this game with her every so often when she tended to his wounds. He had mentioned it was the first time he felt a growing attraction towards her. She remembered it. That was years ago. Almost seems like yesterday.

"Every minute."

"How's that working out?"

"You're still alive aren't you?" At that Gunn chuckled and put a hand on hers. He still was and so was she. Now if he could just keep it that way.


	8. Rifts

Group Therapy

Author's Note: Okay, things have started to take a turn and now I'm working towards something. As you can tell from the previous chapter, A.I's suffering from a little Déjà vu. History has a way of repeating itself in one way or another, so I thought that would be interesting to work in. Executing it is the hard part. Anyway, I don't own Angel or its characters. Blah blah blah. Apparently if you read this far you must be interested in what happens next. Enjoy.

Chapter 8- Rifts

"Good morning ya'll."

"Morning Aunt Cordy!" Connor squealed from the floor. He looked to see Gunn as well and made sure he greeted him too.

"Morning Gunn."

Cordelia and Gunn returned the gesture as they walked into the lobby. They noticed that Fred was on the floor with Connor coloring. Gunn smiled. The whole scene was so serene. Cordelia however picked up on why it was so quiet.

"Where's Angel?" She asked getting straight to the point. Fred was a bit taken back. Cordelia wasn't usually so…biting this early in the morning. She didn't really get that way until a little later. Maybe it was the hormones, she thought.

"In the office with Wesley. Last night after he came back from meeting Lilah, he brought back some files. They're going over some right now."

"It couldn't have been good." Gunn added. Fred shook her head.

"No it wasn't. The reason we're so busy right now isn't because of the holidays you know. There's a restructuring going on underground. Salum's Syndicate is acquiring the Fell Bretheren's old influences and recruiting new hires. The rest are disposed of. He started with the demon population first."

"Hence the reason we got hit with all those demon homicide and protection cases. Gotcha. You want your frap woman?" Gunn offered as he turned his to his grumpy girlfriend and closed the door behind him.

Cordelia snorted from next to him. That was all well and good but she was more interested in the fact that Angel went to meet up with an evil lawyer bitch late last night because he was bribed into it. Exactly how and why would Angel let Lilah of all people get him by the balls? Didn't he learn from last time? Sheesh! She might have let it go yesterday but she was not having a repeat of a few years ago when Angel decided to stop giving a damn about how his actions affected them. She was going to find out. Walking towards the office she didn't say another word as she walked towards the office, opened the door, and let herself in making sure she closed it and locked it behind her. Fred worriedly looked up to Gunn from the floor. Sighing he put his duffle bag down and sat on the ground next to Connor.

"Don't ask. She's been in a bitchy mood since last night. When we got home, it was all good. We watched a movie, read some of the baby books together, got a shower, and went to bed. Then like 20 minutes later she explodes going off about how Angel's not telling us something, Angel needs her help, she's not going to let her friend to this to her again, blah blah blah." Gunn told her as picked up a crayon and began helping Connor color in the Spiderman Comic book he was working on. The boy had impeccable coloring skills at three. Motor skills must have been vital, he was superhuman after all. There were things in store for this kid. Anyway…

"She's worried about Angel. I don't blame her, so am I." Fred replied back as she moved a stray lock of hair from her eye. Gunn was too for that matter but why did Cordelia explode like that at home and not in Angel's face like she usually did.

"I get that Fred. It's just that the shit's getting old. She barely said two words to me all morning. I know she's pregnant and all but damn." Focusing on coloring as he spoke Gunn realized why Fred was down here coloring with the kid. This was pretty relaxing. He figured that since Wesley stayed here with Fred last night, it might have gotten pretty contentious when Angel came back. Looking into the office he looked to see the original trio having a pow-wow.

"We've always kind of been on the outside looking in when it comes to those Sunnydale folks huh?" He wondered out loud. Fred just looked at him.

"Charles?"

"What?"

"Nothing." Gunn caught on to the tone of her voice. Like she knew he was just thinking outloud but it was something he should have known better about. He knew Fred was all about keeping the peace and all that shit but it got under Gunn's skin when he was kept out of the loop sometimes. Hell Angel was his friend too. He didn't necessarily agree with everything he did but he wasn't taking it too close to heart. Why the hell was she? He was her boyfriend. She could atleast confide in him if something was bothering her instead of lashing out and then ignoring him all morning. Gunn didn't take well to playing dumb.

"Maybe it's the visions? She's been getting stressed out about them. Or the baby. She's pretty amped about that too. Maybe she's just having a bad day." Gunn seemed to shoot out in succession.

"That's a whole lot of maybes." Fred replied with a slight smile. She knew Charles was worried about Cordelia. She also knew that rambling wasn't really his thing.

"Yeah sorry. I… got to get my mind off this for a minute. When Cordy wants to actually talk, I'll listen. We got any cases lined up today?" He asked as he ruffled Connor on the head and stood up. The boy stuck his tongue out and straightened his hair back. Fred stood up as well.

"I think someone called in about a giant rat earlier?" She told him as she flipped through the message pad. Gunn's face turned white. He didn't do rats. Anything else was fair game but not rodents.

"Shit no! I ain't going after no rats!" Connor looked up and laughed at him.

"Shit no!" He repeated. Fred pointed her finger at him.

"Bad word Connor. Don't say that or you get the pop." She told him sternly before making the spanking gesture with her hand. Gunn was surprised. Fred was good at this discipline thing despite her happy go lucky nature. Cordelia was probably going to be a tyrant then. Figures that his thoughts would go back to his girlfriend. They always did.

"Sorry Aunt Fred." The boy corrected himself. Connor was a smart kid. Gunn could only wonder what he would be like in the next 4 or 5 years. He'd probably dust his first vamp by the time he was 8 if he kept maturing at this rate. Fred smiled at the boy to reassure him it was okay.

"That's the only case we have so far today Charles. Sorry." She added a few seconds later. Gunn sighed again as he looked to see Angel, Wesley, and Cordelia going at it over something. Gunn was a man of routine. And at times like this, his routine was to find something else to do when it got… stuffy in the hotel. He wasn't really good at talking and debating. Hitting things was more his forte. Common sense and street smarts was right up his alley. Being the guy that was just there not contributing to anything, he didn't really care for. And that's how he felt right now. If Cordelia didn't want to talk to him about how she was feeling, he wasn't going to keep pestering her about it; he was going to do his own thing. And since he wasn't taking that damn rat case, training seemed like the next best thing. To the basement he was going.

"I'm going to the basement Fred. Let me know if something comes up." Gunn told her as he offered her a comforting look. He appreciated Fred because she was always there to listen. He confided in her, usually about Cordelia, and Gunn had never had that. He kept his feelings to himself, even when Alonna was alive. Anne only knew half of the story because he didn't want her worrying about him. Besides Cordy, Fred was the only person he had ever confessed his emotions too. He trusted her.

"I will. Take some water with you. I don't think there's any down there." Gunn nodded before going over to Cordelia's fridge, grabbing a few bottles, and began heading towards the basement. Fred didn't have to ask. Gunn was pissed because Cordy was ignoring him for whatever reason. He didn't really like that. And he was going to hit something. Focusing back on Connor she looked over to see he had finished his page. The coloring was perfect. He hadn't colored outside any of the lines. The boy was special. And instead of enjoying this moment with him, Angel was arguing with Wesley and Cordelia. She hoped that whatever was going on with Angel would hurry and sort itself out.

Meanwhile in the office

"Cordelia, please calm down." Wesley started as he tried to gain control of the apparent lashing that was heading Angel's way. He and Angel had spoken last night about the situation and Wesley figured that he was going to have to trust the vampire, but at the same time be very observant of any more strange behavior. The files Lilah had given him were excellent. All the more reason he was intent on discovering her true motives. Cordelia apparently hadn't gotten over the situation and was in the process of yelling at Angel right now.

"No Wesley. Angel's being a class A moron and you're right behind him for choosing to go along with it. Think about it, Lilah tips you guys to this big bad soul sucker, then she gives you more information on him so you can basically force him to join Wolfram and Hart. Hello? The guy specializes in extracting souls and people's free will. Personally I could do without worrying Angelus killing us all, how about you !" She exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air. A feeling of dizziness rushed over her and she started to get woozy. Angel moved over to her quickly and helped her into the chair. Offering her a slight grin, Cordelia closed her eyes and sighed to herself. She had dizzy spells every now and again. This kid was going to drive her bananas before it even got here.

"Thanks." She told him as she glanced at Angel. "But you're still a moron."

"Cordelia, Wes and I figured the same thing last night. These files contain info on Salum's known hotspots, people of interest, influences. Bascially anything with a trail Wolfram and Hart has record of it. The only thing they can't find is Salum himself. Apparent he has access some secret high power dark mystics who have the ability to conceal him in this dimension. But we can use this to start making some ripples. Maybe we can catch a break."

"And what about Lilah? You don't think she's gonna suspect you guys are trying to play her? Hell she's playing us right now." Angel regarded her thoughtfully. She was right. Lilah probably was playing them but after last night, he knew there was a little more to Lilah's agenda than just recruiting. And it had to do with him.

Flashback

Angel had passed this bridge many times on patrols in the areas. Squatters were usually around rummaging and often paid him no attention. Watching the grey BMW make its way down the canal, Angel looked at his phone. Ten o clock on the dot. Stepping out of the car, Lilah approached him with a folder of files in hand and a disorienting smirk. Angel could smell the perfume on her. It was still freshly applied. She must have just come back from that dinner she was talking about earlier.

"Glad to see you made it. Punctual as usual." She greeted slyly.

"Can't say the same about you." He retorted deadpan. This made Lilah grin even more. She moved closer to him, making the vampire very aware she was encroaching in his personal space.

"Oh come on Angel. Rather you like it or not, you need me."

"What I need… is for you to listen. This is how it's going to go. This mystic you referred me to about Cordelia's visions better be legit or the deal's off. It's pretty obvious you want to obtain Salum so you can use him against me. It's a shame, you used to be more deceptive than that." Angel told her. The look in the lawyers eyes could only read as humor and lust mixed in with a hint of sneakiness. Angel only hardened his gaze awaiting her answer.

"You finished?" Angel said nothing. Lilah stepped back from him.

"Now, this is how it's going to go. The mystic is legit, I assure you. He can tell you what's wrong with your bimbo friend. Congrats on her getting knocked up by the way. But you will take this if you want don't want to have L.A go to hell earlier than intended. This city** is** going to hell. The city council, the police department, the banks, they are all in on it. Corruption is just the beginning. The fear, the widespread panic, that's what's going to bring out the worst in both human and demon nature. Prejudice, hate, ignorance, fear, power. Everything people destroy each other for. Salum and his syndicate uprising was just the catalyst. Wolfram and Hart intends to keep it rolling and we're looking to recruit him for future plans. But if you're looking for your apocalypse, it's starting right now. Imagine a world without a reason to fight Angel. A world where the bowels of society thrive and white hats like yourself are the last of a dying breed. You could try to keep fighting the same old fight with us but while you're running around with your head up your ass, L.A and I'm pretty sure everything else is eventually going to go to hell in a handbasket. And it'll be all your fault. Not Angelus, you. So you will make this deal."

Angel didn't know what to make of Lilah's statement because she made a lot of sense. Holland Manners had told him of a similar fate years ago. Whatever Wolfram and Hart wanted with Salum, it had to do with him he was sure of. But at the same time, Salum had his own agenda and it was just as if not more dangerous and apparent. It was a double edge sword. Either or, one of them was going to win. Salum or Wolfram and Hart. Whatever the choice, Angel knew he had to get in contact with the Powers and Cordelia was his means so he needed to get this vision situation fixed. Maybe they were trying to warn him and somebody knew that. But he wasn't about to let Lilah intimidate him. That was his game. Even if she had point he couldn't afford to let his guard down around her.

"What your problem is Lilah is that you're too afraid to take a chance on anything other than yourself." Angel told her as he overlooked her. She smirked back at him.

"This coming from the vampire that denies his true nature for the sake of the greater good. Sounds like you don't like to take a chance on yourself either." With that she walked up to him and pressed her body against his. Feeling along his torso she reached into his groin and squeezed just a bit. The bitch had balls, no pun intended but this was too much. Angel immediate vamped out. Lilah just grinned her evil grin and stared back at him not even blinking.

"There you are. Like I said, you need me. You need someone who's not going to accept the shitface lie you feed everyone else. Here's my private line. Don't worry it doesn't have anything to do with work I assure you. I'll be in touch." With that she didn't even faze as she turned around and stepped back into her car. Angel watched her leave and stared at the files in hand. Whatever angle she was playing by getting under his collar it was working. The sexual attraction was going to come to a point soon. The desire to hit her and fuck her at the same time scared him. It was something Angelus would have loved to do. Why now? What had changed in the last year or so that had made his sick attraction to Lilah so apparent. He really didn't know. It was reminiscent of Darla a few years ago. Angel was surrounded by those he cared about yet still felt alone in the world. It tore at him everyday slowly. It was self-torture. He looked back down at the files she had given him.

Looking through them he saw how extensive and detailed they were. He had to talk to Wes and try to follow up on some of this. He knew he needed to tell the others about his feelings for Lilah but he couldn't bring himself to do it just yet. What Lilah had said, about him denying his true nature, was beginning to strike a cord within him. It was something he'd rather not think about. Especially with a soul extractor in the area. He knew that attraction for Lilah was despite his better judgement, was growing. It was more than just physical now. The evil bitch had a point. She needed Angel. She needed to control him. If she managed that, she'd have accomplished the one thing Wolfram and Hart had been trying to do for years. Angel needed to reaffirm himself. Heading back to the hotel he tried to think of his love for Connor and not of the pain he felt because of not being able to be a normal father in his life.

End Flashback

"All the more reason we need to get to the root of the problem and stop her real agenda. I know I've broken your trust in the past Cordelia and I know how hard I had to work in order to get it back. I'm not going to do it again. I've got Connor now, I can't afford to let my actions endanger him."

"You'd better not. We love you Angel. We've been through way too much the last few years just for you to revert back to being a selfish ass who doesn't give two cents about abandoning his friends. Because I've got a kid on the way now and trust me, I'm very protective of mine and of Connor as if he were my own." She told him sternly as she stood back up. Wesley wiped his glasses off before placing a hand on Angel's shoulder as if to let him know he had his back before turning back to face Cordelia. He agreed with her completely.

"We need to arrange a meeting with Lilah's client for your reading Cordelia. Are you feeling up to it today?" He asked concerned. He knew she had been feeling a little woozy as of late.

"If they can tell me why my visions are on the fritz then yeah I am. When?"

"Hopefully as soon as possible. So far the only new case we have today is a Burkos Demon infesting a juvenile detention center. They resemble giant rats and they feed on youths." Cordelia grimaced at the statement.

"Guess you two are leaving Gunn here then?" She asked almost on impulse. Both Wesley and Angel grinned at that as did Cordelia. They all knew all too well Gunn's phobia of rats.

"Angel will take care of it. I'll arrange our meeting for later on this afternoon. If you could Cordelia give Fred these files to analyze. It may be useful in our future endeavors." She took them from her with a chuckle.

"Future endeavors? Despite the new improved James Bond makeover you are still the same stuffy bookworm you've always been Wesley." Wesley rolled his eyes and straightened up his collar.

"Why thank you Cordelia for your straight to the point way of telling me I am a ponce."

"Don't mention it." With that she went to hug him. He accepted not really know what had brought it on. Why? She didn't really know, she just felt the urge to hug her friend. She had just spent the past 10 minutes yelling at Angel and now she wanted to hug Wesley for no reason. Can anyone say mood swings? Angel visibly frowned. Where was his hug?

"You can have one too." She told Angel as she hugged him as well. He graciously returned, just thankful that she wasn't still mad at him and he didn't have to hear her yell anymore. The woman was loud. Pulling away she took a deep breath.

"Okay. I think I got whatever was bothering me off of my chest. I'm going to go give Fred these files and get my frapprachino." With that she left the office, leaving one very confused ex-watcher and souled vampire.

Walking out of the office, Cordelia handed Fred the files Wesley had asked about and went to see what Connor had colored. He was more than eager to show her. She was surprised. The boy really was talented. No doubt the artist in him came from Angel. She just hoped he would not grow up to live a life drawing portraits of unobtainable loves in a dark, dreary room.

"Oh Connor, this is really good. Did Fred help you with that?"

"Nope. I did it all by myself. Gunn helped out a little." He added a second later. Fred just nodded.

"Where is Gunn anyway? He usually doesn't take off without letting us know." Cordelia wondered outloud.

"He's downstairs. Letting off some steam."

"Letting off steam? Uh oh." Cordelia figured that atleast one of the reasons had to be how she had been a bitch to him all this morning. It was just that she had a lot on her mind and Gunn just happened to be there. So he got the brunt of it all. She had better go check on him. Opening the basement door, she made her way down the stair only to hear the sound of Gunn's beating of the punching bag and the pants of his breathing. God the man looked sexy sweating and breathing hard like he was. He was in his undershirt and Cordelia could feel the all too familiar feeling of arousal start to creep up in her. Making her presence known she did a small cough. Gunn's head peeped up. Cordelia smiled at him.

"Hi." Gunn just looked at her before continuing his training unfazed.

"Hey." Cordelia looked put down. That was not how he usually greeted her. Where was the smartass comeback or the warm hug or the kiss on the forehead. He was starting to piss her off.

"Gunn?"

"What Cordelia?" he replied back tiredly.

"What the hell crawled up your ass and died?" She asked she placed a hand on her hip.

"I could ask you the same thing earlier. Only you weren't doing much talking."

"Is that why you're in a foul mood? Because I wouldn't speak to you?" She asked incredulously. He couldn't be serious could he? Was Charles Gunn really that sensitive?

"No, it's because you don't talk to me when stuff is bothering you and I have to try and figure out what the hell is wrong. I'd like to know why my girl's upset so I can try and comfort her. Not just sit around and pretend I'm not there. Why the hell are you upset about Angel seeing Lilah so much? I don't think Angel's gonna pull the same shit he did a few years ago again."

"Why am I so upset about Angel seeing Lilah? Well, one, her job consist of turning Angel evil and she's tried to kill all of us several times. Two, she's a merciless yet very well dressed bitch. I don't think anything good could come out of it but for the moment I'm over that. Why are you so upset? I've ignored you plenty of times, you know this. I just have to deal with it sometimes on my own." Gunn stopped punching his bag.

"Yeah I know. I do the same shit Cordelia. I see why it gets under your skin now." Cordelia didn't look convinced.

"What's really bothering you Charles?" Okay she was genuinely worried now. She used his first name.

"I don't know. As much as me and Fred have become family with you guys, there's times where it seems like we're still on the outside looking in. I know it's not really like that but it feels that way sometimes. It never really bothered me back then cause I had my crew to worry about. This was the side gig. But when we started to get close I thought about it more. Angel's the one whom all this revolves around. Wes is the brains. Fred is the one who keeps us all sane even if she's a little wacky. And you keep everybody going. And not just because of your visions either. What do I do besides hit stuff?" Cordelia was taken back by this. How long had Gunn been debating his place in the team? She narrowed her eyes and got up in his face.

"I'll tell you what else you do. You give Angel a reason to fight everyday even if you're just human. Because it's the right thing to do. You made Wesley realize that it's okay to be a dork and still have confidence in yourself. You helped Fred become less cooky and stop talking to plants, and…"

"And what?" Gunn asked as he looked intently at her.

"You've given me hope that I'm not destined to die without truly being happy and that I'm actually capable of loving and maintaining a meaningful relationship with someone for once in my life. Plus you saved me from dying a gruesome probably very messy head exploding death. A guy deserves some brownie points for that."

"You think so?"

"I don't think, I know." Cordelia replied back with a grin. Gunn snorted despite himself. Yeah she did.

"That's kinda why I love your ass."

"The feeling is mutual." With that Cordelia closed the gap and allowed Gunn to envelop her. He took in the closeness and inhaled her. She smelled like cinnamon mixed in with a little bit of him. That alone explained a lot. Even if she was pissed off at him or vice versa, they still reeked of each other. That showed how close they actually were. Pulling away, walked over and picked up an axe from the wall. Gunn shook his head.

"Uh uh, you can't be doing all of that shit now. You gotta cool it for the next few months girl. We could lose it." With that Cordelia smirked and put it back down. The reaction on his face was priceless.

"I just wanted to see your face. Come on dumbass, Wes is going to talk to that guy about checking my visions out later. He's got plenty of research stuff up there for us to do."

"What's Angel doing? He going out?"

"You wanna fight a Burkos Demon?"

"What's that?"

"A giant rat that eats kids."

"Shit no! I'll stick with the dusty books." Cordelia chuckled at that.

"I thought so." Grabbing his hand she allowed him to help her up the stairs and back into the lobby. Both of them feeling a little bit better. She wasn't finished with Gunn though. He seemed to be having some real issues. Angel was definitely having some issues. She'd better check on Wesley and Fred for that matter too. She was not about to have everyone's secrets eventually come back to bite her in the ass.

Later that evening

"Daddy I'm hungry."

"After we help Cordelia Connor I promise we'll get something to eat. Quiet down son."

Gunn was twirling his fingers along Cordelia's strands of hair as he looked on from the back seat of the Angelmobile. Wesley was up front helping Angel make it to the destination, Fred was reading yet another one of her physics books. She said she was prepping for her Quasi-dimensional something course. And Cordelia was holding on to Connor in her lap securely as he begged Angel to stop for something to eat.

"Connor sweetie, you be good for your daddy and I'll get you a toy. How's that sound?"

"Can I get a real sword?" Gunn smirked behind his hand and Cordelia cast Angel a sideways glance.

"Angel help me out here?"

"In a few years. For now you can fight bad guys with the one you have now."

"But it's too small. Auntie Fred was cleaning Wesley's yesterday. He keeps it in his pants." At that Wesley's face dropped. Fred blushed a deep red, the question shouldn't have been so subjective but it was. Cordelia and Gunn were laughing there asses off. Angel was confused. What the hell did he mean he kept it in his pants? He glanced up in the rearview at Fred who put her hands up in defense and scoffed at Angel's glare.

"I didn't do anything like that." She muttered meekily.

"Angel!" Wesley let out incredulously appalled that Angel had even insinuated him and Fred doing something that inappropriate in front of Connor. That's what his office was for. But that was beside the point.

"I think he meant the dagger dog." Gunn clarified in her defense. Angel's face returned somewhat to normal as he deflated.

"Oh yeah. Right. The dagger. Hehe."

"Let's say we carry on shall we?" Wesley offered quickly wanting to change the subject.

Soon the team of Angel Investigation had reached their destination.

"Well I can't say I'm surprised. Wonder what's playing." Gunn muttered with a smirk.

"Are you serious?" Cordelia stated for the entirety of the group. Angel nodded.

"Lilah said this was legit. She said ask for a Will Heron. At this address."

"It's a fricking movie theater Angel." She reiterated again.

"I see that. I guess we just go to the ticket both or something." Gunn clasped a hand on his back.

"You guys haven't ever snuck into a movie theater before. Follow me." With that he had moved over to the exit side of the door on the other side of the building and waited for some patrons to leave. Holding the open door graciously for them he greeted them with a smile before quickly ushering Cordelia and Fred in. Once they were inside they opened the door for the guys.

"I must say Gunn I am impressed." Wesley told him with a grin. Cordelia snorted.

"Please, Gunn's evaded more tips than I have pairs of shoes in my closet."

"My God Gunn."

"Charles!"

"That's a lot of shoes." Was Wesley, Fred's, and Angel's simultaneous reply. Connor just stared.

"What are tips?" Gunn ruffled his head one good time.

"I love this kid." He said with a chuckle.

"Hey!" A voice called from down the hall. Damn, so much for espionage.

"Ms. Morgan told me you were coming. I could sense you all the way in the parking lot. Follow me." The stranger said with a cocky grin as he started towards them and showed them into what looked like a supply room.

"You're Will Heron?" Angel started as he shut the door.

"Yeah. What you surprised?"

"You're so young." Fred told him as she overlooked him. He looked like he was fresh out of high school.

"Yeah, my folks got whacked off a few years offend you?" He answered back. Fred pouted. That was rude. Cordelia put her hand up and walked up to him.

"All right smartass. You know that we're here about my visions. So what's the deal with them? Why am I getting everything so late and with worst quality? They're usually within hours of the incident and in extremely painful high definition. What changed?" Will just stared at her before issuing her a cocky grin.

"Anyone ever tell you that you are extremely hot?" Cordelia rolled her eyes. Gunn resisted the urge to grab the shitbag by the collar. He was getting on his bad side. Angel slightly pushed him back.

"Look, we don't have a lot of time for this. If you could just read Cordelia, we have 1500 right here right now. If you can tell us who's behind it, I'll double it." Cordelia was surprised. Angel was bargaining. That was new from the usually you tell me or I beat the hell out of you approach that Gunn had perfected once upon a time and Angel had picked up.

"Okay. I can tell you what's wrong. But as for who's doing it. You're on your own. I can only read and sense links, I can't trace back to the source."

"Do it then." Nodding in acknowledgement Will asked Cordelia to come towards him and asked for Wesley and Gunn to hold her. Closing his eyes for second he opened them and Gunn noticed very quickly that his eyes were a bright green and they were glossy. Almost as if he were in a trance. Cordelia too fell into a trance of some sort and her eyes seemed to roll in the back of her head she began to convulse. Gunn didn't know what to make of it. He wanted to punch the hell out of the boy for causing it but Fred grabbed him by the shoulder and pleaded with him to wait it out. Soon Will's eyes returned to normal and Cordelia slowly regained her state.

"Dude, something out there is seriously messing up this chick's link to the Powers."

"What do you mean?" Wesley asked. "Are the Powers losing influence over Cordelia's visions?"

"No, the visions are still coming. For now. But from what I can see, she's going to lose them in the next few months. Something's trying to intercept her channel to them. And I don't know who or what could have the juice to do something like that. Or why for that matter." Will told him in all seriousness. He was amazed himself. Cordelia just stared.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Angel nodded. Okay now he had some possible motives to go from.

"What we need to do is find out why? And from here on out, try to find a pattern in Cordelia's visions before they're completely blocked. All of them have had to deal with the same type of scenario the last couple of weeks. The murders look like assassinations. Perhaps there's a something important linking them all and whatever is doing this is trying to keep us from finding that out." Wesley nodded as well.

"Agreed. Now we have something to go on." With that he handed Will the money.

"Thank you." Will only nodded. Wesley could only assume he was freelance for Wolfram and Hart because he had no one else but himself. His parents must have been mystics themselves. His story was probably quite sad. Angel shook the boys hand and with that the group left as soon as they had come. Next order of business. Get something to eat.

"I can't believe this. I've carried these visions for almost seven years and now I'm in danger of losing them. This sucks." Cordelia gripped as she got back into the car. Gunn comfortably placed an arm around her.

"We'll figure it out baby. We always do. We got a lot on our plate right now."

"Yeah, speaking of baby business, our next check up is next Friday. She said that I'm almost done with the first trimester now."

"See? We got enough to worry about. Don't worry about the visions so much."

"If you weren't the father of my child, I'd kill you right now, I feel so crappy."

"Then I'm a hate to see what you'd do to me when you start PMSing again." Gunn joked as he buckled himself together. Connor looked up.

"PMSing is when Aunt Cordy gets all grrr? Right Gunn?" Connor asked outloud as he mimicked the claw movement Gunn had shown him one day Cordelia was being a royal bitch. Cordelia looked back at her boyfriend accusingly. Hmm? When was this? Angel looked back yet again in the rearview, this time at Gunn.

"What the hell are you guys teaching my boy?"

The ride continued on in a similar fashion all the way to the restaurant. Gunn had to smile. Despite everything coming their way and their own personal problems, they all still managed to stay somewhat normal. In any circumstance. He knew that this was all this just the calm before the storm.

Author's note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I think the title of the chapter fits it well. Things are starting to crack for our favorite group. And Cordy and Gunn have only touched a little on their personal issues. Sounds like something to work from. I have all kinds of plots and subplots going on here but I'm trying to make this feel as genuine as possible to my ability. Hope you keep with it and as long as I'm inspired I'll keep at it. As always reviews and feedback are nice. Until next time, Hell Yeah!


	9. Affliction

Group Therapy

Author's Note: Okay. I don't own anything that is remotely related to Angel or Mutant Enemy or any of that jazz. If that was the case, I would not be writing this on paper and our favorite actors and actresses would still have jobs helping the helpless. I haven't had a lot of motivation as of late mostly because of life and a little writer's block. But now it's cleared up and here's another chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 9- Affliction

The car ride back to the Chase-Gunn apartment was not the usual pissing contest the two of them engaged in regularly. Cordelia had been next to silent the whole time, tears still stained from finding out she was potentially losing her visions and this time she didn't know why. Worse off, she was still hormonal. And Gunn didn't know what the hell to do about it. Pulling up to the familiar curb in front of their apartment, he was just thankful that he could finally get some rest. Turning off the engine and stepping out of the truck he walked over to the passenger side to let his girlfriend out.

"How you feeling?"

"Why do you guys always ask that? How the hell do I look like I'm feeling!" Gunn just rolled his eyes. He asked for that but the silence from her was killing him.

"You look like shit." He shot back after her outburst making her eye twitch. Uh oh.

"Not right now Gunn." She told him apparently exhausted by the day's events as she walked ahead of him and into the apartment Dennis had already opened the door for. Sighing deeply Gunn just followed.

As he locked the door behind him, he looked to see that Cordelia had already gone back towards the room and the bath water was already running. A pad floated towards him.

'What's wrong with Cordelia?' So Dennis noticed her funky mood too huh?

"She might lose her visions and we aren't exactly sure why? She's not taking it too well." Gunn told the ghost as he started to take off his shoes. Apparently Dennis had heard enough because he didn't reply anymore. The hallway closet opened as the ghost retrieved some washcloths and a towel for Cordelia. Gunn followed into the bedroom where Cordelia was sitting on the bed crying. He regarded her for a second before walking over and sitting next to her.

"Ssh, it's okay baby." He whispered to her comfortably as she balled into his shoulder. He knew how much those visions meant to her and after everything he had gone through to make sure she would live to keep them. Cordelia wasn't going to talk to him. Not now anyway. Motioning for the towel Dennis was hovering Gunn gently wiped some tears from her eyes.

"Go ahead and get a bath. We'll deal in the morning." God she looked pitiful. Gunn hadn't seen Cordy look this down in a long long time. Saying nothing else he kissed her on the forehead and stepped out of the room. Heading straight for his cell phone he quickly dialed Wesley's phone.

"Pryce here."

"English?"

"Yes Gunn?" Wesley answered somewhat irritably. Fred had just run her hand across his chest almost making him drop his books. They had just gotten to his apartment and were about to have some intimacy.

"Well, damn." Was Gunn's taken back reply. Wesley sighed.

"Sorry. It's just that Fred's staying the night with me. I was in the middle of something." Gunn could tell by the sound of his voice that he was interrupting his boy from getting some and normally he'd understand but this was important.

"You need not say anymore. But before you two get all hot and steamy I need to run something by you."

"What is it?" Wesley asked now interested. Fred pouted as she noticed the look on his face. This could take forever.

"Cordelia's a mess over here. We need to get something going on what might be fucking with her visions. Let's hit the books, knock on some doors, whatever we gotta do because when my girl's not happy, I'm not happy."

"I agree but I haven't the slightest idea where to begin to be honest Gunn. We can check into some of Angel's leads from Lilah and see if there's something. Maybe Lorne could come down to help as well. He has a link to the Powers as well. Maybe Cordelia could sing for him?"

"Let's do that then."

"Consider it done. Get some rest and take care of Cordelia." Wesley told him in all seriousness. Gunn nodded.

"Yeah I will. Later." With that he ended the call and proceeded to get ready for a shower and bed himself. He had a long day tomorrow.

After letting Cordelia get her bath and getting one of his own, Gunn had just turned off all of the lights and was now closing the bedroom door behind him. Cordelia had already gone to sleep. Crawling into the bed next to her, he admired her for a minute before kissing her on the shoulder and cutting the lamp off.

Later

Gunn tried to focus his eyes as he felt the extra weight move from his chest. Instantly reaching over, he realized that Cordelia had left the bed and had run into the bathroom closing the door behind her. Seconds later he could hear the all too familiar sound of her vomiting into the toilet. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he took a deep breath before sliding out of the bed to check on her.

"Cordy?"

He received the sound of her vomiting as a reply. Scrunching his nose, he slowly opened the door to see Cordelia puking her lights out. Getting into the old routine he had perfected the last few weeks he slowly pulled her hair back so she wouldn't get it in hair as she leaned over the toilet. After she finished, Gunn gave her a paper towel to wipe her mouth with. She took it from him and nodded gratefully. This was getting old really fast. She knew Gunn had to be getting tired of it too. Flushing the toilet, she sighed deeply.

"What a day I've had". Why shouldn't I top it all off by puking my guts all over the bathroom floor?" Gunn could feel the sarcasm oozing from her words as she tied her hair into a ponytail and grabbed a scrunchee from the drawer. She attempted to step past him but Gunn moved into her view.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He told her as he grabbed her by the waist. She narrowed her eyes at him deadly.

"Back to bed. Move."

"Not until you talk to me. You've barely said anything to me since we left the Hyperion. What gives?" Gunn told her trying to keep his voice as soothing as possible. He really wasn't up for a shouting match. And knowing Cordelia, she would have broken something before the night was over.

"About what Gunn? I'm losing my visions. Again. I already feel like shit. Carrying your child isn't exactly helping either?" Gunn could see the vein pulsating on her forehead. What the hell lit a fire under her ass? Oh yeah, she was hormonal.

"That's great Cordelia. You gonna talk to me or what? It's got to be more than just the visions getting you like this?" Gunn asked as he lightly put his hand on her forehead. She was burning up.

"Come on. I'll get you some water." He told seconds later as he reached for her hand. Cordelia waved him off.

"I'm not thirsty." Gunn gave her a look.

"Who cares? You're obvious not feeling well. And as much as I enjoy a good night's lover's spat, tonight ain't it." With that he gently took her hand and squeezed it. Cordelia cut her eyes at him.

"Sometimes I miss that brusque macho exterior you tried to protect so much. You didn't ask any annoying questions." She told him as she followed him. Gunn rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well that was before I actually gave a damn. Now I do. So, talk to me. It's 3 in the morning and I'm not driving halfway cross town to crash as the Hyperion or Wes'since he and Fred were about to do the horizontal mambo last time I spoke to them. Definitely not sleeping on that couch. I really don't feel like going through you having a fit and kicking me out." Cordelia just sighed as she stood against the wall. Gunn was trying so hard to cheer her up. She was grateful for him despite the fact that she was getting this close to bashing him in the head with a frying pan because he wouldn't leave her alone.

"I'm not going to kick you out tonight. If I tell you what's bothering me, will you leave me alone about it?" Gunn smirked as he grabbed two glasses from the cabinet and poured some ice water for the two of time.

"No."

"Of course not."

"Okay then. Spill." He told her as he handed her a glass. She grunted as she took a sip.

"Let's sit down. I still feel kinda woozy." Gunn nodded as he helped her to the couch and sat down. Cordelia usually would tell him outright what was bothering her and it would get squashed. But tonight it was different. And he would bet his bottom dollar it had something to do with her visions. Opening his arms he motioned for her to lean over into his chest. Cordelia did just that and sighed again contently as she began to rub his fingers with her own.

"I'm depressed and it sucks." She blurted outloud. Gunn had to refrain from making a smart ass comment about stating the obvious. The two of them would do that to each other so much it had become a habit. But now was definitely not the time.

"Go on." He prodded carefully.

"The last thing I needed to hear today was something about these damn visions. I've just witnessed about 7 men get sliced and diced in kaleidoscope vision the last two weeks thanks to the Powers. Apparently they're trying to tell me something in the least helpful way. And now something out there is big and bad enough to block them? Gunn, I feel like a slot machine and every big bad has taken a chance to try me. Add in the stress from my current condition, let's not forget worrying about Connor possible growing to be some antisocial super kid that can't function, plus Angel's acting weird; again. And I've been a total bitch to you the past few weeks, I feel like crap." Gunn nodded.

"Well, I can't do anything about the visions baby. But Wes will figure out something. He always does." He whispered to her comfortably. At that she jumped up.

"That's just it! Wesley always has to figure something out and you and Angel have to come in to save the day when it comes to me and these goddamn visions. If it wasn't for you guys, I'd have the back of my skull blown out already. How the hell am I supposed to take care of a baby if I can't control my own life? People like us aren't supposed to have normal lives Gunn." Gunn looked at her shocked. Wow. Cordy must have been feeling like this for a long time. No wonder she'd been acting so bitchy. She was stressed and he was too caught up in his own thoughts to see it. The vision thing just sealed the deal.

"Cordy?"

"What?" She lashed out at him in exasperation as she began to shed some tears. She was upset and Gunn had made her cry by prying. She just wanted him to hold her for a second. Gunn took the liberty of reaching for her and giving her a comforting grin.

"I got you. Let me protect you for once."

"I don't need any protection Gunn. I need a break." He laughed slightly at that. She did need a break. She needed time away from everything. Maybe even him. He was going to talk to Fred about that later. Maybe Cordelia needed some female bonding time or some shit. Either way, he was starting to notice that this pregnancy thing was going to be harder than he thought.

"Is there anything else?" He asked as he held her closer. Cordelia shook her head. She was too tired to argue anymore. She didn't have it in her. At this point she just wanted to go back to sleep and deal with all of this shit in the morning. Burying her face into his chest, she slowly moved up to his neck and kissed on it slowly before moving to his lips. Gunn let himself become lost in her emotion as she grabbed on to him.

"Kissage would be nice."

"I can do that." Gunn told her as he smiled at her, glad to see she was not crying anymore. The storm had passed for now it seemed. Cordelia pulled him down towards her.

"Shut up." She told him as she felt his hands move across her torso and rest under her breast. She practically shuddered at his touch. Gunn nodded and she returned and deepened the kiss. He figured Cordelia just wanted to go back to sleep and not worry about her personal problems right now. Gunn was okay with that. She had confided in him and tomorrow he would address them. Thinking nothing more of it he helped her from the couch and into the bedroom with the intention on putting both of them to bed for a good night's sleep.

Hyperion 5:42pm

"Peter Hamilton, Director of the Pier 1 Shipyard. Last Known Status: Missing, possibly deceased." Wesley read aloud as he handed the picture of the man in question to Cordelia. Connor was on her lap playing with his action figure and Angel and Gunn were off sparring downstairs. Angel was in a foul mood for reasons she didn't know and Gunn wasn't up for any "research shit" at the moment and offered to help Angel let off some steam.

"Should I add this guy to our dry erase board of death here?" She asked nodding her head over to the board.

"No, not yet Cordelia. He may be in hiding. I actually know of some contacts that have connections to that shipyard. A lot of illegal goods as well as demon migrants are known to travel through there. According to these files, Mr. Hamilton was involved in most of these activities or atleast knew about it. It wouldn't be a surprise if he was approached by the Syndicate as well. It would give them a great advantage to control one of the busiest ports in the country. I think I'll look into that." Cordelia pushed a lock of her hair away from her face before rubbing her stomach. She was bloated and it wasn't going away. She smirked to herself at Wesley's increasing enthusiasm at the fact he might be on to something. He was such a goober.

"I can only imagine what you and Fred's pillow talk must sound like. Have I mentioned I am going to kill Gunn today?"

"Atleast 3 times in the last hour." Wesley answered rolling his eyes ignoring her jabbing statement. Without missing a beat as he started through the next file and began to write on the board. So far there was atleast 13 people on the board. Cordelia had visions of 9 of them. The other 4 were already deceased/missing beforehand within the last 2 months. His guess was that the other visions were going to occur soon since they had been lagging for quite some time now. The bigger question is why the Powers were so intent on showcasing these victims. Apparently Wolfram and Hart was involved with each one in some fashion and had high stakes in the firm. So why would Lilah want to do business with the same entity killing her clients? There was more to this than she let on and Angel seemed way too comfortable about the whole situation. He was starting to worry about him.

"What are you thinking about?" Cordelia asked bringing him from his thoughts.

"What?"

"I said, what are you thinking about Sherlock? All you're missing from your ensemble is a smoking pipe." Wesley chuckled at her observation as he wiped off his glasses.

"I'm trying to connect the dots as to why Wolfram and Hart has a strategic interest in the same organization that's murdering their clients. Lilah gave Angel this information willing and so far it has been completely accurate."

"So she's an honest bitch? So what?"

"That's my question. Why did she give this information to Angel? Salum must know of Angel and possible of your visions too. Perhaps the people in your vision are clues from the Powers of how to find Salum or atleast piece together his part of the puzzle. We know where Wolfram and Hart stands but if your visions are being hacked then there must be another player in all of this. We need to probably search for a lead on that front as well." Cordelia just stared at her friend for a sec. She kinda zoned out when he started talking about her visions. She really didn't want to hear about them right now. Even after Gunn had comforted her and gave her some well needed TLC last night, she was still afraid to ask Wes about them for the sheer fact he probably didn't have a clue what was going to happen with them. Besides she had been debating with herself about them for a while now.

"This sucks." Cordelia responded with a sigh. Wesley did likewise. He was fed up with dead ends and big bad demons on ego trips too.

"Truly." With that Wesley closed the folder and Cordelia shot him a grin.

"You talked to Fred today?" She asked sitting Connor on the floor and leaning on the palm of her hand. Researching could wait awhile. Besides she hadn't had a heart to heart with Wesley in a while.

"Yes, I have. She told me standing in front of her class was one of the scariest things she had ever done. And to make sure that we had some wine at my apartment because she was coming over later tonight if nothing major was going on here." Cordelia smiled as she listened to the Englishman. She was proud of her friend. Atleast one of them was living a life somewhat close to normal.

"Our little Fred is growing up."

"What about you Cordelia? Surely you've thought about the future now that you're with child?" Cordelia snorted in reply.

"Yeah, try not to die."

"That's a very optimistic view point."

"Just saying."

"We'll figure this out. We always do. I'm more worried about Angel at the moment. He seems to be somewhat…unstable as of late." Wesley noted. Cordelia nodded in agreement.

"Ya think? I'm telling you Wes, he's gotta be atleast this close to banging Lilah if he hasn't already. And you know Angel, there's a good chance when he gets some, people end up dead. As if we need any more of that."

"That's not true. That's only if he experiences a moment of true happiness and loses his soul so he'll revert back to Angelus."

"Or gets drugged. I'm sorry but having angry, hardcore, I hate you but I feel sorry for myself sex with a hot lawyer after what's possibly been years since getting any kind of groiny action definitely sounds like case of the happies. Either way, it's not something Angel would normally do. Let's not find out." Cordelia corrected as she remember Faux-Angelus coming out to play a long time ago and the two of the them having to chain him up. Maybe the might need more chains.

"Well said Cordelia." Was all Wesley could muster after her explosive rant. He was shot at this point and could not thing of a single thing to say to that question. Cordelia said nothing as she got up and put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Thank you Wesley. For everything. We don't give you enough credit sometimes."

"You're my friend. I consider you family even more so. Although there are times late at night when I find myself wondering what if concerning our relationship." Wesley replied in a voice so wistful Cordelia kind of believed him. That is until she noticed the grin playing on his face.

"Do you really want to be in Gunn's shoes right now?" She asked with a chuckle as she pointed to her abdomen.

"I see your point." He told her before letting out a genuine laugh. Cordelia couldn't help but smile back.

"Get back to your books. I'm going to go look in on Gunn for a sec. I want to talk to him." With that she turned towards the basement.

Making her way down the stairs, Cordelia grew closer to all too familiar sound of two sweaty, hot men sparring. As she edged closer, she could hear Gunn's boasting and sighed in relief to herself. At least he was in a good mood. It would make her talk with him a little bit easier.

"And chalk up another one to the most feared name in this town. Go ahead and say it man. Gunn." Cordelia looked to see Angel roll his eyes and sit back on the bench before acknowledging her presence.

"Oh my God, not that again." She deadpanned jokingly causing Angel to look up at her.

"How are you Cordelia?"

"Fine. Doesn't look like the same could be said for you though big guy?" She returned as noticed he was resuming his brooding state.

"I'm good. Just a little off today." Angel tried to reassure her before suddenly asking "Do you think I'm a bad father?" This cause Cordelia by surprise and she looked over to Gunn with an eyebrow raised. Gunn walked over to her and whispered in her ear.

"Connor asked for him to take him to the park today. Angel's upset cause he had to tell him he couldn't"

"I heard that." Angel retorted. Gunn looked back at him sheepishly making Cordelia smile just a bit. At least things were returning somewhat back to normal.

"Kinda figured you would. Anyway, I'm about to go see what's shaking and hit the streets. Maybe get a lead on a few of those head honchos. Cordy's probably going to give you an earful so maybe that'll wake your brooding ass up. You want anything while I'm out baby?" He asked as he turned back to Cordelia and wrapped an arm around her waist. After last night, he figured Cordy needed some affection and reassurance that she wasn't in this alone. Hell, her pregnancy was becoming more apparent every day and so were the swings.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about something. And Angel you need to get a grip. You know Connor loves you. So what if you can't go do recreational stuff without combusting on a sunny afternoon. Your son gets excited seeing you in vamp face. So get out of your funk and get upstairs and do something fun with him. He won't stay this young forever." She told him sternly as if daring him to try and say otherwise.

"You have such a way with words Cordelia."

"And don't you forget it buster." With that Angel gave her a tentative smile and went to do just that. The sound of Gunn sitting regained her attention seconds later.

"What's up?" He asked motion for her to come sit on his leg. She rolled her eyes before plopping down on him. He grunted at the suddenly application of force making Cordelia smirk triumphantly.

"Okay… I've been thinking…about everything the last couple of weeks. You know, us, the baby, losing the visions." She started as Gunn nodded.

"Yeah me too. What's bothering you?"

"It's just… I'm thinking that maybe losing my visions may be what I need to do." This definitely took Gunn by surprise. He did not see this coming.

"What? Cordelia, I know how much those visions mean to you. You telling me that you're seriously considering not trying to keep them. You know we'll figure out something? What changed?" He asked in all seriousness. This was a 180 for her and something was definitely up. Cordelia expected as much.

"I know. But things have changed. In case you haven't noticed, I'm packing on major pounds dude."

"Yeah, old news. What's that have to do with this?" Cordelia scoffed off his smartass reply.

"Everything." Gunn shook his head. Why couldn't she just come out and say whatever was bothering her?

"Not following."

"What if the visions are passed down Gunn?"

"You think they are? I thought humans weren't even supposed to carry them?" He answered back.

"I'm thinking yeah. Wes said that there are demons who can carry visions and they are hereditary. I don't want that to happen to my baby. Believe it or not, I actually chose to keep helping Buffy and her socially inept friends fight the big bads and I chose to help Angel. Our child wouldn't have that choice." Gunn nodded now following her.

"And you only have one Kai Ring. Without it one of you would die. I get it. Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked a second later.

"I'm not sure. I mean this is Angel's link to the Powers. We need to figure out what they're trying to tell us first. But after everything is said and done, maybe I can transfer them or something." She queried as she rubbed her boyfriend's knuckles.

"Wes would know more about this than me." Gunn started but Cordelia stopped him in his tracks.

"But Wes isn't the father of my child, you are. This is our deal." She was right, this was their problem and he was just thankful that she wasn't hiding this from him. Now he knew what was bothering her for so long.

"How long have you considered this Cordy?"

"For a few months now. Even before we found out about the baby. I thought about it. The future and all of that. But now it's like I'm really thinking about it. And you know, it doesn't irk me as bad as it used to because I know that I'll still be useful and Angel doesn't need the Powers to tell him a Champion. He's already proven that. Shanshu or no shanshu, he's more human than I think even he realizes sometimes."

"Yeah, a vampire with progeny for one thing." Gunn added making Cordelia smirk.

"So…I finally got it off my chest. What do you think?"

"I say, let's see what's wrong with them first and then after we take out these Syndicate guys we'll make a decision. Together."

"I say, I like your idea. I know there was something about you I liked." She joked.

"Let me guess; was it my dashing good looks or bad boy attitude?" He offered initiating a loud snort on her behalf. Arrogant little bastard was he?

"Pfft! Please! You aren't as bad boy as you make yourself out to be?"

"And you aren't as much of bitch as you claim to be?"

"Touche. But actuality, it was your selflessness. You reminded me of a street-wise, confident, although unknown at the time just as geek version, of Xander. Apparently you type of guys are my downfall." Gunn laughed at that analysis. Maybe she was right. But Cordelia wasn't as ditzy as she claimed to be. Matter of fact, she was pretty damn smart. Not Fred smart but sure as hell smarter than him.

"Oh well. No turning back now."

"Nope. Besides, you two are very good kissers."

"Okay, enough about Xander and you two's exploits in janitor's closets. I've heard the stories."

"Gunn. Cordelia we got a lead." They heard Angel call from the top of the stairs. They nodded before standing. Gunn shot Cordy a smile before starting towards the stairs. Pulling his arm, she pulled him back and eyed him for a second before motioning for him to lean closer to her so she could reach up and kiss him. He did so without hesitation.

"Okay."

Once they got back upstairs, Cordelia noticed Angel gearing up and Wesley stuffing a note into his pocket. Connor was holding one of Angels sais and eyeing it closely. She could the see the little warrior in him now. He was fascinated with weapons and violence. She just hoped he wouldn't get into any fights when he started school. They had enough problems as it is just trying to get him to interact with other people.

"What we got?" Gunn asked not missing a beat as he headed to the weapons cabinet.

"Mr. Piazzi called. A few of his friends have been having similar intimidation problems. I got in contact with one of my sources and got word that Mr. Reed plans on making an appearance at one of these spots. We know what we're dealing with. Let's go send a message to Salum and make some ripples." Wesley answered as he sheathed his dagger. Gunn nodded.

"That's what the hell I'm talking about." Wesley nodded expecting the usual reply from Gunn concerning anything big and violent.

"Cordelia, I know your movement is limited but we may need you to use the crossbow in case he attempts to make an escape. Are you up for it?"

"Count me in. I can look after Connor too while you all go kill stuff." Angel did smile at this. He heard her and Gunn's conversation downstairs and was feeling a bit better about things. He wouldn't say anything to them about it because it was between the two of them. He was just glad that they continue to see the good in him even when he doubted himself.

"Tired of staying behind?" He asked as they started towards the basement. The sun was going down but it wasn't quite nighttime yet.

"Ya think? A girl can only watch so much daytime television."

"I don't know. I find myself watching the Maury Povich show sometimes." Angel admitted cause Cordelia to give him a taken back look.

"You did not just say that Angel."

"What? The people on that show have way more issues than I do and I'm a vampire with a soul. It makes for good t.v." He shot back and picked up Connor trailing behind him. Cordelia turned to look at Gunn and Wesley behind them apparently conversing about the best way to kill a demon. Shaking her head, she could help but be thankful for the family she had. At least her child would not have any shortage of interesting stuff to observe. Especially when their family consisted of a bunch of weird, nerdy, and downright strange group of outcasts fighting the forces of evil. And right now, in this point of her life, there was no place she'd rather be.

Author's Note: Finally I finished the chapter. Well now we see Cordelia's considering on making another life change. Adds yet another kink into our gangs already long chain of problems. And Connor's already quite interested in combat isn't he? Even though Cordelia and Gunn are the main focus of the story, I called it Group Therapy because I wanted to show how A.I relies and play off each other. Angel has his own side story going and I'm thinking of adding more towards Wesley and Fred as well to branch into the narrative. It's like I have all of these ideas but connecting them is the hardest part. As usual, thank you for taking the time to read and continue on with the story. Reviews and feedback would be most appreciated. Until next time. Hell yeah!


End file.
